Tech Room Secrets
by Kristador
Summary: There is more to Marshall than meets the eye...
1. Default Chapter

**~Chapter One~**

He couldn't even look up. This puppy was the best thing he'd ever made.  He 

couldn't wait for the op-tech report, but then again, he'd have to give it up.

_Maybe I could stash it...._

But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Sloane walked by. "Marshall, briefing 

in 5 minutes, and don't even think about hiding your new wire tapping design."

With the eyes of the monster gazing at him, he replied, "Thank you, Mr. Sloane. I'll 

be there soon, sir."

Marshall continued staring at _his_ new tech toy.

_Marshall, step away from the wire. I know! Blow up your inflatable couch!_

So he decided to do that. He got it about half way, then passed out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Marshall? Marshall? Marshall! Dad, I don't think he's sleeping," Sydney told 

Jack.

"He probably just passed out. It really wouldn't surprise me," Jack replied.

Dixon was just one of the many people circled around their favorite tech guy, 

whose once half inflated couch was now deflated. In fact, everyone was there except for Sloane.

"Jack, let's go ask Sloane to push back the debrief to give Marshall a chance to 

come back. Syd, you stay in here in case he wakes up. Everyone else, back to work," Dixon said as he headed for the door.

"Okay," Syd replied.

So everyone left but Sydney.  After a few minutes of silence, Marshall started 

talking. "NO! Not the cheeks, Aunt Ruthie! Not the cheeks!" Then he sat up with a start. 

"Oh, hey Miss Bristow. I must have um... you know... um fallen asleep or something."

"Marshall, you passed out."

"Oh, well, I can...tell. Um... did I happen to miss the debriefing?"

"Only by 15 minutes," Sydney replied with a smile.

He was constantly tortured by that smile.  He did love Sydney as a friend, but her smile reminded him too much of the past.  However, despite that past, he was able to hide it fairly well.  Except for the moments that he couldn't take anymore, which rarely 

happened.

"Marshall? Marshall, are you okay?" Sydney asked, her face now full of concern.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Um... thanks for asking Miss Bristow."

"Okay. My dad rescheduled the debriefing to be in 15 minutes."

"Okay. I'll go now so that I'll really be there this time," Marshall told her as he held the door open. 

She gave him an amused smile and walked out of his office.

Marshall sighed. That smile would be the end of him....


	2. Marshall's Mission

**Chapter 2**  
  
"I'm glad you could make it, Marshall," Sloane said.  
  
"Thank you, Mr. Sloane. I was blowing up my inflatable chair, and I...um...passed out. But it was all in favor of this agency, and for the US government, and um... for the-" Marshall looked over to Sloane, saw the soul shattering glare and decided that he was finished and sat down.  
  
"Now," Sloane started, "We have reference to something Mr.Sark calls "the bible". We know that it's located in Cairo, Egypt. That's where you're going. Your objective is to tap the phone, grab the bible and plant listening devices in every hallway in the building." Sloane pulled up the 5 story building on the screen. Then he showed the separate hallways, all 55 of them. "You'll have a support team in to help you. And a special agent."  
  
Sydney, Jack, Dixon, and Marshall all looked at each other.  
  
_A special agent? Who could it be?  _Marshall thought.  
  
"Marshall," Sloane said as he sat down.  
  
"Uh, Mr. Sloane, aren't you...um, going to say the um, agent's name?" Marshall asked, his curiosity was killing him.  
  
"I have, Marshall. It's you."  
  
Every one's mouth's opened so big they could hold an ocean, and Marshall's eyes grew big and wide.   
  
"Really?" He squealed. "Marshall Flinkman, secret agent. No! Marshall Flinkman, special agent. Yeah, I like that!" Marshall looked around him. Everyone, including Sloane was smiling. Their congratulating smiles warmed his heart.   
  
_Wait a minute..._ he thought _Sloane never looks at me and smiles. He only glares. Am I dreaming?  
_  
He pinched his cheek.  
  
Back to reality, he lifted his head. Sloane was looking at him like his was going to kill him (he got that often from Sloane... he always thought his jokes were pretty funny though) which, (Although he didn't know)Sloane could and would kill him, except for the fact that Marshall was the best tech guy in the world... literally. Sloane had checked several times for a better one, but to no avail.   
  
"Marshall, are you ready to start now?" He was asked with that glare.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Sloane. Completely ready. Totally ready. In Fact, I'm really, really, really ready. I'm so ready that I could-"  
  
He received "the glare" again. It was one of the only things that scared him... besides Aunt Ruthie. So, he stopped talking.   
  
Sloane went through the debrief. To Marshall's surprise, he was right. The mission was wire tapping, listening devices, and grabbing the bible.  
  
_Oh yeah! I remember now! He had to tell me that to make the tech. I already knew that before the dream! Stupid, me! I guess I'm not a prophetic genius... oh well!_  
  
"You will have a support team accompanying you. They will help you plant the listening devices in the 17 hallways. You also have a special agent going with you." Sloane explained. "Sydney, Dixon, and Marshall, you leave in an hour."  
  
"Marshall?!" They all (himself included) exclaimed.  
  
"Yes," Sloane replied. "You need him to set up the tech and make sure we can get feed from all seventeen hallways and the wire tapping. Marshall..." and Sloane sat down.  
  
"Well, first of all, I'd uh like to thank my family, for bringing me up to this point. Um... except for my Aunt Ruthie. All she ever did was just pinch my cheeks, I was, well, depressed..." Marshall said then looked (once again) in to a glare, yet another 'glare of Sloane'. "Right. Well, the wire tapping is the same as the uh, Caperfrat mission. The bug's in the wire the listening devices are pretty simple. I've been looking over the pictures, uh this past week and I found that all levels of this place are different colored and have special walls meaning that there are secret passage ways, making the hallway bugs actually 47. Which I think, uh, means that there's something Rambaldi in there. So we should try to find it, which means there may be other agencies there with us, so, um... we gotta be uh, careful. Oh! And you, Miss Bristow, should wear these." Marshall said as he pulled out a pair of red sunglasses.  
  
"Why?" Sydney asked.  
  
"Well, you see, when you put them on, they can... see through certain types of walls, in this case... steel. And they are super swank. As are all my tech toys. Mr. Dixon, you and the rest of the support team get a pair. And I'll make myself a pair too. Like one big happy family. Speaking of family, did anyone happen to catch the uh... Brady Bunch marathon last night? Well, it was great one. Did... anyone see it? Any...one?"  
  
"Marshall," was all he got (besides a glare).  
  
_His glare isn't half as bad this time. I wonder if I'm becoming immune...  
  
_"Oh, right. I'm done." Marshall said as he had a seat.  
  
"Remember, you're leaving in an hour, Marshall," Sloane said. "Don't be late"  
  
Marshall walked back to his office and pulled out his orange box. He took out a picture, already wrinkled, folded it in half and put it in his pocket. Then he packed up his tech toys, and went home to pack for the trip.  
  



	3. The Flight

**~~~Chapter 3~~~**  
  
Marshall sat on the rather comfy seat, breathing oddly. To his right, the first class aisle, to his left- Sydney. Dixon decided to let Marshall sit next to her. He assumed position behind them, next to an older Russian lady who was eyeing Marshall with lots of interest. Marshall however was just trying not to puke.  
  
"Uh, Miss Bristow," Marshall said, while trying to sound okay.  
  
:Sydney turned and looked at him. "Marshall, are you okay? You don't look so good."  
  
"I think I'll be okay, but, well, I uh think I'm..." As he spoke, the room started getting blurry. Sydney was turning into a blur.  
  
"You're what Marshall?"  
  
"I think I'm.... I'm... gonna be..."  
  
He didn't have to say another word.  
  
"Dixon," Syd whispered behind her.  
  
"Everything okay, Syd?" He whispered back.  
  
"I think Marshall's going to be sick, " She replied.  
  
"Say no more, Syd. I'll take care of him," Dixon said as he stood and lead Marshall to the bathroom. Marshall only hit two walls, one door, and three flight attendants along the way.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Half an hour later, Marshall came out of the bathroom. Dixon was positioned outside the door, being told by a flight attendant to go back to his seat. Marshall, seeing clearly now saw 15 people's glares.  
  
_At least it's not Sloane glaring at me this time. I can handle this_  
  
As he and Dixon headed back to their seats an old Italian woman smacked Marshall with her purse.  
  
"OW!"  
  
Dixon was about to say something, but was beaten to it.   
  
The Old Russian lady smacked the lady back. "You pick on someone your own age. Wait! No one on this plane is as old as you."  
  
"Is your whole family this ugly or is it just you?" the Italian woman shouted back.  
  
So the two kept the "insults" coming.   
  
"Uh, Mr. Dixon, I think we better, um... go back now." Marshall said with his gaze fixed on the two women.  
  
"Yeah, you are right, This might get dangerous," was the reply as they headed back to their seats.  
  
Dixon told Sydney everything that happened, while Marshall slept. He looked so peaceful on the outside, but inwardly, few people would believe how much pain he was feeling.  
  



	4. Missing Dreams

**~ * ~ Chapter 4 ~ * ~**  
                        _:::DREAM:::_

  
_"Marshall, I'll be back in a few days," Suzie said._

_  
"I know, Suzie. Where are you going again?" Marshall asked. _

_  
"I'm going to Egypt. My company is hosting the tenth annual "Desert Days Festival" in Cairo. I have to go. I have no choice," Suzie replied. _

_  
"And I can't go with you because?" Marshall asked._

_  
"Only employees are allowed to go," she replied. "I'd take you if I could."_

_  
"I know. You'll call me right?" _

_  
"Yes, I'll call you when I'm above the ocean," she said._

_  
"Okay."_

_  
"Love ya, Marshall," she said as she kissed him._

_  
"Love you, too," he replied._

_  
"I really gotta go now," Suzie said. "But I left you a present on the couch. See ya later."_

_  
And she blew him a kiss, and walked out the door._

_  
As soon as she left, Marshall ran to the couch. He picked up the package and ripped off the paper. Reaching his hand inside, he pulled out a book, and a card. As he looked inside the card, a picture fell out. Marshall picked it up. It was of him and Suzie on their first date. He flipped it to the back. It said:_

_  
Marshall,  
Even on our first date, I knew I loved you, and I always will.  
Suzanna Marie Rodriguez   
&  
Marshall Joseph Flinkman  
Forever.  
Love You,  
Suzie_  
  
  
_He started reading the book; quickly realizing it was a collection of their memories. Pictures, tickets stubs, love notes, cards, pressed flowers, and their favorite memories all put together in this book. As he read he fell asleep. _

_  
Two hours later, he woke up. He walked into his kitchen, and realized he had missed two calls. The first one was from Suzie. He heard her say:_

_  
"Hi, Marshall, this is Suzie. I'm over the ocean. It's so beautiful! I miss you so much and I've only been gone two hours. Did you open your present yet? Do you like it? Well, call me back. You've got my number. Love you and I'll –"_

_  
Then all he heard was screams, and then a big splash. Then the phone died._

_  
He was so shocked and confused as to what had happened, so he listened to the next message, hoping, praying it was her. It wasn't. _

_  
"Mr. Flinkman, this is the I.R.T., or the International Rescue Team. We're very sorry to say this, but an airplane just crashed on the way to Egypt. We haven't found any bodies, but we don't see how anyone could survive that crash. We found a cell phone and a baggage case with the name Flinkman, and this phone number on it. We could tell that this belonged to a woman, we're supposing this was your wife, and we thought you should know. Again, we're very sorry, and are grieving with you. If we find any bodies, we'll call again."_

  
_BEEP! And the machine went off. Marshall overwhelmed with everything. He just broke down and cried. _

_            :::END DREAM:::_  
~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~  
  
Marshall woke up with a start. Everyone else on the plane appeared to be asleep. This horrible memory kept coming back as a nightly dream. No, not a dream, this was a nightmare. One of the worst imaginable, or not imaginable. He would never imagine it.

  
He took out the picture of him and Suzie from his pocket, and quietly began to cry. He missed the black haired angel's aqua eyes. He missed her loving smile. He missed everything about her, including her love.

  
The only thing he didn't know was the person behind him was suffering the same way. She too was quietly crying. Also missing her true love.  
  



	5. Complications

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ Chapter 5 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

            The airplane had just landed, and Marshall, Sydney, and Dixion all went into the terminal.  Nobody questioned any of them.  No one noticed their guns.  Marshall was very surprised, but pretended otherwise.  

            They all went to change into their mission ensemble.  Marshall walked out of the bathroom in a nice suit, his super swank glasses, and his invisible earpiece to communicate with all of the team.  

            "Okay," Marshall said as he walked out. "Where is everyone?"

            "Well," Sydney said.  " Dixion and I are right behind you, and the support team is out getting us cars."

            Marshall turned around.  "Oh, I see you now.  No….worries….yet."

            They met up with the support team and got in separate cars.  Marshall came up with the idea that they should go representing different companies.  

            **::              ::                  FLASHBACK             ::              ::**

            "Now, Miss Bristow, you'll represent…an agency, called Bascheorsian Incorporated.  Now, they're a Russian agency…they, well…I'm not sure what they do…but I do know they are very powerful, and you'll get in automatically…once you show them, this," Marshall explained to Sydney and Dixion at the debriefing.  He pulled out an I.D. card.  "This I.D. is, of course….100% fake.  It's like when I was younger… I was a party guy, in college… and wanted to go…into a club.  Being the genius I am, I made a fake, I.D. and BOOM, I was in." 

            "Great," Sydney said.  "Now what about Dixion?"

            "Well, Mr. Dixion, you get to…  "work" for an insurance agency.  Now, the name is sort of weird, but it's kinda cool once you…ya know…think about it.  The name is, um… Shiny Moon.  Oh, and you…you get an I.D. too." 

            "Just what I've always wanted," Dixion joked as he and Sydney took their IDs from Marshall.  " Who are you working for?" 

            "Well, that's the beauty of all this.  The owner, Castrelob, has a mysterious son.  No one has ever seen the guy, totally anonymous. He looks kinda…like me, only his name is, Marvin.  It's kinda…scary...Mr. Sloane's first name, with an M on the front.  But, Mr. Sloane doesn't need to….hear about this…I like, my job. Well, anyway, I get to be Marvin."

            ::            ::            ::            FLASHBACK             END            ::            ::            :: 

            They were all at the building within ten minutes.  Sydney went in first.  As Marshall predicted, her ID immediately let her in.  

            "Syd, you've got the spray from Marshall, right?"

            "Yeah, Dixion.  I just sprayed the secretary with it.  Well, one of them.  Dixion, you can come in now, Marshall, stand by," Sydney said.

            "Copy that, Miss Bristow," Marshall said.

            Marshall saw Dixion walk in, and then he disappeared.

            "Marshall, are you ready?"  Dixion asked.

            "Yes, I think…." He replied.

            "Go for it," Dixion said.

            So he did.  He stormed into the building.  Then he walked to the secretary.  

            _This is it_.  He thought.

            "I need to see my father now!" he said in his thickest Arabic accent.  

            "And you are?" the secretary asked.

            "Marvin.  Marvin Castrelob."

            The secretary looked shocked.  "Oh, I'm sorry to keep you waiting, sir.  Can I please see some sort of identification?" 

            Marshall tried his best to look bored as he pulled out his fake ID.

            "Right this way, Mr. Castrelob."

            As she led Marshall to Castrelob's office, Marshall heard from Dixion.

            "Turning off security cameras in 3….2….1…off.  Support team, move in.  Syd, Marshall, do your thing.

            Immediately Marshall sprayed the woman.  Then took her keys.  He raced down the hallway, unlocked Castrelob's door, and ran inside.  He locked the door, and began to set up.

            "Bluebird, what's your status?"  Marshall asked. 

            "Sixteen out of twenty placed.  Do you have all the feeds?"  Sydney asked.

            "Affirmative," Marshall replied.  "Dobson flies, what's your status?"

            "Dob One here.  Five out of five placed," said Dobsonfly One.

            "Dob Two here.  Five out of five placed," said Dobsonfly Two.

            "Dob Three here.  Five out of five placed here too," said Dobsonfly Three. 

            "Affirmative, Dobs.  I have all feeds.  Get out of there."

            "Robin, what's your status?"  Marshall said.

            "Robin here.  I have all the monitors in place," Dixion said.

            "I've got all your feeds too, Robin," Marshall said.  "Get out of there, too."

            "I found it.  I found the Rambaldi passageways, and I found something.  I'm not sure what, but it's Rambaldi.  All twenty halls have been monitored.  Do you have all the feeds?"

            "Affirmative, Bluebird.  You can get out, too."

            "Okay, don't forget to grab the bible, and tap the phone line," Sydney reminded him.

            "Thanks for the reminder, Bluebird.  Now, get out," Marshall said. 

            Marshall quickly switched the original wire to the tapped one.  Then, after ten minutes of searching, he found the bible.  

            "I've got the bible, guys.  I'm coming out," Marshall told the support team, Sydney, and Dixion.

            "Copy that, Marshall.  Now come outside," Dixion replied.

            "I'm coming, Robin.  Going radio silent."

            "Affirmative.  Hurry out."  

            So Marshall went out into the hallway.  He saw a beautiful black haired girl running toward him.  She reminded him of someone he used to know and love.  

            _Suzie…_he thought.  _No, it couldn't be her._  

            Then he saw three big men chasing after her.  They all had guns.  One raised his gun and began to shoot.  Marshall's world began to slow.  His eye followed the bullet.  It would go straight into her heart.  Then she turned her head around and looked at him.  She smiled, and he knew.  It was her.

            He was positive it was her.  Without thinking about it moment longer, he jumped in front of the bullet.  It went searing through his chest.  He hit the floor, and then everything went black.


	6. Discussions

**~~~~ Chapter 6 ~~~~~**

            His inability to see made it difficult to get up.  He felt someone pressing against his wound. Then he felt something smooth being slipped into his pocket.  He was cold, then hot, then cold again.  He tried to get up, but he couldn't.  So, he sat, now alone.

            Moments later, he heard footsteps, then voices.  Then punching, kicking, and yells.  The he heard Sydney.

            "Dixon, I found him. He's been shot in the chest."

            "Do you need me to come in?"

            "Yes.  He's still alive, but he's unconscious," she replied through the earpiece that Marshall had made only the day before. Marshall groaned, his lips and teeth chattering.

            "We'll need an extraction team, he's in shock," Sydney said, as she put pressure on the wound.  

            Three minutes later, Dixon came running down hallway. "Sydney! Sark is here! We have to get Marshall and get out, now."

            "Okay, should we see if he can walk?" Sydney asked.

            Marshall heard this and tried to speak. "I.... I'll try... t-to," he said. "H-help... m-m-me... up."

            So they helped him up, and walked with him, then suddenly stopped.  Marshall, sensing danger, shut his eyes and went limp.  He hoped pretending he was dead would help.  Then he heard Sark speak in a voice that made him sick.

            "Once again, we meet," Sark said to Sydney.

            Marshall held his breath.  The pain in his chest was almost too much to bear.  The worst pain before this was the occasional flu shot, paper cut, and of course hives. This topped them all.  Despite the pain, he knew he couldn't breathe.

            "I'm surprised it took you so long to get here," Sydney said.

            "Yes, well we ran into a little problem.  A woman.  In fact, your friend there took a bullet for her, and she got away.  It's a pity he's dead."

            When Marshall heard a few sobs from Sydney, he couldn't help but wonder if he really looked dead.  He figured if Sydney was crying, it must look very real and appear that he was dead...either that or she was faking too.

            He didn't hear anything else for a minute, but then he felt himself being pulled away from Dixon and Sydney. "Take them to the van.  Leave the dead one," Sark said.  He heard them walking out, then he heard people storming in.  He heard kicks, punches, and grunts and groans of pain.  He could only guess what was happening.  The support team had come in and Sydney was helping beat Sark and his minions.

            Then he heard a loud noise. An explosion type noise.  Suddenly, he felt an urge to move.  He gathered all his strength, ignored the pain, and moved a small bit.  He felt something shoot past him.  He had just escaped death again. Then he passed out. 

            His sight began to come back.  That was when he noticed his surroundings.  He was in a hospital room.  He sat straight up. "Where are you, Marshall?" he asked himself.

            A doctor came into the room.  

            "I see you're finally awake," he said to Marshall.

            "Yes," Marshall said. "I am. Awake and confused."

            "I'll go get Mr. Sloane.  Then you have quite a few visitors wanting to see you."

            So the doctor came out and in came Sloane.

            "Marshall, are you feeling any better?" Sloane asked.

            "Well, Mr. Sloane, sir, considering the....circumstances, I'd say I'm normal--confused and tired."

            "How much do you remember?"

            "Um...not enough to tell a story."

            "I'll get Sydney to come in.  Maybe she can help you remember."

            Marshall nodded.  So Sloane left, and Sydney came in.

            "Hey, Marshall.  How are you feeling?" Sydney asked him.

            "I've been -- better," Marshall replied.

            "Do you remember anything at all?"

            "Only a little...before and when I got shot.  That's it."

            "Tell me what happened."

            Marshall explained how he thought he saw Suzie, who Suzie was, how he jumped, how things went black, he told her, well, everything.

            "I understand completely," Sydney told him looking upset and sad. "I'd do the same thing if I saw Danny again."

            Marshall felt a sudden bond between the two of them.  Both had fiancés that died before they could get married. Then he wanted to ask her something.

            "Ms. Bristow," he asked smiling a tiny smile. "Would you, mind...if I called you Sydney?  Just in when...we're alone...not in front of Mr. Sloane, but just you and me and Dixion?" 

            "Marshall, you can call me Sydney whenever you want."

            She smiled sweetly for him.  So, he smiled back.

            "Sydney," Marshall said, it felt kind of weird, but good. "Tell me everything I missed with my little black out." 

            So she explained everything. It took her a few hours, explaining to Marshall everything she knew. And then he told her everything he knew as well. They talked about life, love, and friendship. Making theirs stronger


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

            Several people from work visited him, even Jack.  His visit was short and to the point, but very nice.  He asked Marshall when he wanted to go back to work, if he wanted to work in the hospital, and how he felt.

            Marshall decided he wanted to go home as soon as possible.  He told Jack to ask Sloane to get him a visual phone, and he would hood it up and work as he recovered from home.  Sloane okayed that.  Marshall was checked by the doctor, and then was sent home.  On the way, he saw a guy on the side of the road who looked like he needed help with his car.  So Marshall pulled over to help.

            "Hey," he said.  "Do you need some help?"

            "Actually," the guy replied.  "I do."

            "Well, maybe I can help.  What's the problem."?

            "I have no idea."

            "Well, it looks like it's the brakes."

            "Oh.  So I need to go to the shop or something, right?"

            "Yeah, unless you want to drive in a very dangerous car.  I'll give you a lift, and you can get the auto shop to pick up your car later."

            "Sound's great.  Thanks."

            So, they got into Marshall's car and started to drive.

            "So," Marshall said.  "What's your name?  I'm Marshall."

            "Will," the guy replied.  "Will Tippin."

            "Really?  You're the reporter?  I read your stuff all the time."

            "Yeah, 'Ex-reporter Tippin'.  That's me."

            "Where do you work now?"

            "Um…  I'm a human dishwasher at my friend's restaurant for now.  I'm staying with her, too.  Just until I find a place that I can afford."

            "Oh, well, my house has plenty of room.  Um… you could uh, stay with me if you want.  If not, it's… ah, fine."

            "We just met, because my car broke down, and you are doing me two favors in a row?  No questions asked?"

            "Well, you would have to go through Freddy."

            "Who's Freddy?"

            "My dog.  If he doesn't like you, which would make you the first person he didn't like, you wouldn't want to stay."

            By that time, they were at Mark's Auto Center.

            "Here," Marshall said as he wrote down his address, phone number and name.  Then he gave Will the paper.  "Call me if you wanna do lunch or whatever."

            Will smiled as he got out of the car.  "Thanks!"

            "Give me a call if you wanna do whatever."

            "Sure.  See ya, Marshall."

            So, Marshall left and went home.  As he opened the door and walked in, he was approached by Freddy, who began to jump all over him.  Realizing his master's pain and discomfort, he stopped, and settled to curling up in a ball next to Marshall on the couch.

            Marshall soon dozed off….

~~~0~~~0~~~0~~~0~~~0~~~0~~~0~~~

            "Right this way sir," said a waiter.

            "After you, Suzie," Marshall said.

            "Thank you," Suzie replied with her brilliant smile.

            So, the waiter walked them to a small table in the corner.  They ordered and Marshall reached into his pocket.  He pulled out a box and got down on one knee.

            "Marshall?"  Suzie asked, somewhat smiling. 

            "Suzie, you are the most amazing person that I have ever met, in my life.  I love you more than anything, and if you love me, you'll say yes to my question.  Suzie, will you marry me?"

            Suzie began to cry.  "Yes," she managed.  "I will."

            So, he slipped the ring on her finger.  She could not stop crying, and well, neither could he.  It was one of the happiest moments of his life.

            "I love you, Marshall Flinkman."

~~~0~~~0~~~0~~~0~~~0~~~

            He woke up crying.  He decided to go talk to Sydney, she could help him and she promised he could talk with her if he ever needed to.  So, he got into his car and went.


	8. Chapter 8

~Chapter 8~

          A Russian woman walked down the road.  She was searching, anxiously searching for one thing.  Her mission was fairly simple, her task had been made clear.  She herself could only think of about a million things that could go wrong.  No matter what happened, the mission had to be accomplished.

            So far, her job had been easy.  She was only following, listening to, and monitoring everything.  The job had effected her recently, only slightly, and only once.  She was made aware that she could hand over the mission, but in truth, she also knew she was the only one for the job.  Her training, instincts, and her biggest secret (even though not much of one any more) would all work together in this particular mission.  

            So there she sat, on a street corner, waiting for "the mission" to come to her.  Patiently, she waited. And then suddenly, there it was.  Once again her mission started, only this time was the most dangerous.

            ~          #          ~          #          ~          #          ~

            Marshall had made it to Sydney's house.  He headed up to the door.  He just needed a minute to come half way to his senses, so he backed away for a minute.  He felt ready to talk, so he headed back up the stairs, not noticing a young woman in the window.

 Out of nowhere, he heard squealing tires.  He turned around to see a half-familiar looking Russian woman jump out of a car.  He stared for a few seconds, until she ran up to him, and started to shove him into the car.  

Francie was in the window watching everything.  She was scared and confused.  She didn't know what to do so she ran, picked up the phone, and dialed a number.

~          #          ~          #          ~          #          ~

Sydney's stomach tickled.  She was with Michael Vaughn in their warehouse.  She had switched her cell phone to vibration so that her and Vaughn wouldn't be interrupted.  Evidently it didn't work because she began to laugh.  

"Somehow," Vaughn said in a soft, joking, tone, "I don't find your father hearing Sloane actually admitting to killing his wife funny."

Sydney gave him a playful glare as she pulled her cell phone.  "Be quiet.  Its Francie."

She turned on the phone. "Hello," she said.

"Sydney!" Francie said hysterically.  "He was coming up the stairs and this Russian woman came up and –and she shoved him into a car. I- I don't know what to do.  So I called Will and asked him to come, but I don't feel much safer with just him so I called you."

"Francie, calm down.  Who was coming up the steps?"

"Well, I don't really know.  He had a bandage around him, the kind they use after you've been shot in the chest in movies."

Sydney's eyes grew wide. Vaughn watched her, looking absolutely clueless as to what was going on, and waited for an explanation.  

"Did you recognize the woman?" Sydney asked her.

"Well, she looked a little like you…. and a little like your dad, but had Russian features.  But no I don't know who she is.  Will's on his way home.  Will you come here too?  Please, I don't feel safe right now, but I don't think just me and him isn't much safer either. Please."

"I'll be there soon. Give me 15 minutes. Okay?"

"Yah, okay.  I'll see you then."

Sydney turned off her phone.  Then she just stood staring at nothing but air.  She was positive who the kidnapped guy was. It had to be Marshall.  But who would kidnap Marshall?  Why would they want to kidnap Marshall?  

"Syd?" Vaughn asked.  He was beginning to worry.  

Hearing the sound of his voice, she snapped back into reality.

"Francie- she witnessed a kidnapping.  I am almost positive it was Marshall who was kidnapped.  I've got to go.  Francie's hysterical.

"Sydney," Vaughn said as she turned to leave.  "There's something you should know about Marshall."

~          #          ~          #          ~          #          ~

Eric Weiss sat in the car with Marshall and his kidnapper.  

"Is he alright?"  he asked. 

"That's what I want to know," she replied.  "Are you sure we have to tell him now?"

"Yes.  He has to know."

The woman nodded.  She stood over Marshall, waiting for him to wake up.

~          #          ~          #          ~          #          ~

Sydney stared at Vaughn in disbelief.

"No," she said.

"Yes," Vaughn replied.

"No," Sydney almost laughed.  "I don't have a sister."

"Syd, yes you do."  He pulled out a file and handed it to her.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just found out a few hours ago.  That's why I called you here."

"Why?  Why would the CIA keep this from me?"

Vaughn sighed.  This would take a while to explain.

~          #          ~          #          ~          #          ~

Marshall began to stir.  When he was shoved into the car, he passed out from all the excitement.  Awake, but with his eyes clothes, he listened to his kidnappers.

"So how are we going to do this?" the woman asked.

"I'm not sure.  I'll probably let you do it," Eric said.

"Fine.  The sooner he wakes up, the sooner we can get this over with."

Hearing this, Marshall decided simply not to "wake up".

~          #          ~          #          ~          #          ~

"Why didn't my dad tell me?"  Sydney asked. 

Vaughn was about to say something, but was beaten to it.

"Because I didn't even know until yesterday afternoon," Jack said as he walked in.

"This information has been top secret for several years," Vaughn explained.  "Only Devilin, Irina, and she herself knew.  When your sister found out about your mother, she came here, and joined the CIA.  She's been giving us information for several years."

"Does she have a name?"  Sydney asked.  

"Yes," Jack said.  "But only herself and Devilin know what it is.  All we have is her alias.  She goes by Suzie."

~          #          ~          #          ~          #          ~

"Is he ever going to wake up?"  The kidnapper asked impatiently.

"I hope so.  We can't wait too much longer, or SD-6 will figure out he's missing.  Go ahead and wake him up," Eric said.

She shook him.  "Marshall, wake up," she said in a soothing voice.  

He, of course, heard her.  Something about the voice he heard made him "wake up".  Looking around what looked like an office building, he saw a man and a Russian looking woman he had never seen before.  Not what he expected, he was sad, scared, and confused.  

"She's going to tell you a few things, then I'll come back.  If you need anything, press that yellow button on the wall.  Marshall," Eric said.  "You're safe here."

Walking out of the room, the two were left alone.  Marshall was feeling a little bit better after hearing two soft tones, so he acted a little more comfortable.

"Marshall," the woman said as she pulled off her wig and took away her accent, "we need to talk."

All he could do was stare.  He felt like he had seen a ghost, which in a way he had.  Suzie was alive and standing right in front of his face, less then two feet away from him.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine!!!!

            Sydney's cell phone rang.

            "Hello?" she said.

            "Syd, are you okay?"  Will asked.

            "Yes, I'm fine.  Why?"

            "Because Francie is worried sick about you." 

            "Oh, I forgot!  I'm—" she glanced at her father and Vaughn, "busy."

            "Okay.  It's no big deal—just Francie having a cow.  You know how she is.  V.W. or D.W.?"

            "Both."

            "Wow.  Okay, I'll see you later then."

            "Yeah, I'll be home as soon as I can."

            And they hung up.

~          *           ~          *           ~          *           ~

            "Yes, Marshall.  It's me, and I'm not dead, I'm here," Suzie told him.

            "I'm confused," Marshall said.  "One, why did you fake your death?  Wait.  I want to make sure you're not lying. "

            She looked at him fondly.  She knew he was very smart.  She even knew what he was going to say.  He was going to ask her what their favorite place to eat ice cream was, and what they always got.  He had told her so.

                                    :::::: FLASHBACK :::::::

            "Suzie," Marshall said.  "If anything was ever to happen that would separate us, remember this.  This moment.  Here in this place, what we're eating, remember it all.  Suck it all in like, like a vacuum cleaner."

            Suzie had to laugh at that.

"That's how we'll know when we're together.  Don't tell anyone else.  Ever.  It'll be our secret." 

"Okay," Suzie said, seeing how serious he was.  " Even though I don't think anything will ever happen to us like that."

"I know," he replied.  " I'm sorry.  But don't forget this.  Just in case.  Promise me."

"I promise."

                        ::::::FLASHBACK END:::::::

Marshall sat staring at her.  She was smiling, but still hadn't answered.  He still didn't know if she was Suzie.  He had to know. 

"Do you have an answer?" he asked her anxiously.

"Oh," she said sounding a little surprised.  "What was the question?"

"What's my favorite singing group?"

She gave a sad almost depressed look.  Almost in tears, she sat down next to him.  She felt so sad, and wanted to be gentle with him.  But unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way.  

"Marshall, before you asked me to marry you, we were at U.D.F., our favorite place to get ice cream, we were eating our usual, a banana split with banana ice cream instead of vanilla, which always threw them off.  You, Mr. Marshall Flinkman," she almost yelled at him, "told me, 'Suzie, If anything was ever to happen that would separate us, remember this.  This moment.  Here in this place, what we're eating, remember it all.  Suck it all in like, like a vacuum cleaner.' Then I laughed.  Then you said, 'That's how we'll know when we're together.  Don't tell anyone else.  Ever.  It'll be our secret.' Do you not remember that?? That is not the question you just asked me, even though I know the answer is Superchic[k].  You had better explain everything to me.  Why did you lie to me?"

"I, uh, wanted—I wanted you to say what you just said," he got out, as tears welled up in his eyes.  "Anyone could know my favorite group.  Only you knew that stuff.  Only you."

And they both began to cry, and they hugged each other.  And there they sat for two hours, just hugging and crying together.

~          *           ~          *           ~          *           ~

"When will I get to meet my sister?"  Sydney asked Vaughn.

"After she's done talking to Marshall," Vaughn said.  

"Marshall?  How does she know Marshall?"  

"He was her mission for the past several years.  She had to find out as much as she could about SD-6."

"I was giving you tons of information on SD-6.  Why and how did Marshall come into this?"

"Sydney, calm down," Jack said. 

He was aware of how Sydney got when she was mad, and decided that Vaughn may accidentally get hurt. 

"Why was she looking for information on SD-6?"  Sydney asked much nicer this time. 

"You weren't aware that SD-6 wasn't part of the C.I.A. yet.  Your father was the only person we had in there.  He gave us as much information as he could, but we needed some from the technology viewpoint.  Your sister was dating Marshall, then she found out that he was working for SD-6.  She told us immediately and we had her look through his belongings, to see what kind of technological information we could find.  It helped tremendously.  Then, when you came in she was only following him, and protecting him as much as possible," Vaughn said.

"Marshall—he saw her in Cairo.  Sark's men were going to shoot her, so he jumped in front of her.  He tried to protect her.  Then, at the hospital, he told me about when she died.  Why did she fake her death?"

"I don't know exactly.  I don't have clearance that high.  And even if I did, I wouldn't be allowed to say anything to anyone about it for her personal safety."

"We should go see Marshall now," Jack said.

He began to walk out.  They watched him get outside the door and Michael began to follow.  When he noticed Sydney wasn't beside him, he turned and gave her a questioning look.  Before he could ask what was on his mind, she spoke.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course you can."

"Are we friends?"

"Why would you ask something like that?  You know we are."

"How long before we take down SD-6?"

"With Marshall on our side, probably about three months.  Why?"

"Can I tell you something then?" she asked as she walked toward him.

With a puzzled look, he cautiously replied,  "Sure."

She grabbed his arm, pulled him closer, and whispered in his ear, "I want to be so much more then just friends.  What do ya say?"

Before he could give her an answer, she kissed him.  Once he got over his initial shock, his arms went around her and he kissed her back with as much passion.  It was only the two of them in there.  They were lost in their own little world, and they would have stayed there, too, but the loud clearing of Jack's throat brought them back to reality and what they were doing.

They remained standing there, with Vaughn's arms around Sydney.  They were lost in each other's eyes until Jack came up close behind them and gave them the famous Bristow death stare.  Vaughn's arms dropped to his sides as he turned around to face Jack.  Making eye contact with him, Vaughn defiantly raised his head and took Syd's hand. 

There was a flicker of some emotion in Jack's eyes as he spoke, "Sydney, go outside and sit in the car.  I need to talk to Agent Vaughn.  Alone."

Sydney looked up at Vaughn and smiled to encourage him.  She gently squeezed his hand before letting go and walking out.

She left Vaughn alone with her father, and she was will hope.  Although their chance at the moment seemed small, she knew that if they had the approval of Jack Bristow, they would be okay.  With or without his approval though, Syd knew that they would make it together, no matter what the odds.

~          *           ~          *           ~          *           ~

"Why?"  Marshall asked.  "Why did you fake your death?"

Looking at him, she could tell he was upset.  Not with her, but with himself, which made her feel even worse.  

"It had nothing to do with me not loving you.  I still love you, even today.  It was just my job."

"What is your job?  I know you're not really a lawyer."

"I work for the C.I.A." 

"Okay then.  Um…Why would you have to keep that from me?"

"Because you work for SD-6.  Marshall, Arvin Sloane is an evil man.  He has willingly deceived hundreds, if not thousands of people.  SD-6 is not part of the C.I.A.  They are an organization posing as the C.I.A., part of the Alliance of Twelve.  Everyone in SD-6 either has been lied to, or is lying themselves.  You know two double agents for the C.I.A. already.  Sydney and Jack Bristow.  They came to the C.I.A. when they found out that Sloane wasn't who he claimed to be.  They get counter missions, carry them out, and then lie to Sloane about them all the time."

Marshall just stared at her.  

"So…. they already know…. everything…"

"Yes.  They know everything.  I'm only able to tell you this now, because we need you.  You have to help us get rid of SD-6 and ultimately the Alliance.  We need you to be our new double agent.  You will work with the Bristows to get this done sooner.  You should only be like this for a few months."

"Why?  Not that I don't want to help the C.I.A., but why do I have to keep working at SD-6?"

"Sloane would kill you.  We need you to rig the tech.  Sydney does the best she can to hook everything up, and our tech men work all the time to get this done, but we have a lot more to worry about than just SD-6.  With you helping, by already rigging the tech, we'll take down SD-6 sooner and you'll give our tech guys a break, which they need, and would love you for doing. "

"Okay….well, then what would happen if Sloane ever found out?"

"Not to scare you, Marshall, but he'll most likely kill you. "

"Okay, Marshall…don't tell Sloane."

"Don't tell anybody.  Sydney and Jack are being made aware of everything, but don't mention anything about it unless they say something first.  You're life depends on it. "

"I like my life…." 

"I did too.  Marshall, for years I thought my name was Katrina Olana Derevko.  I was born and grew up in Russia.  My father had died before I was born, and my mother raised me.  When I was sixteen, my mother told me part of the truth.  I did a little investigating.  She told me she wasn't really a lawyer, that she was part of an organization.  Actually, that she was in charge of an organization.  She wanted me to join in with her, take over the world, the whole ordeal, actually expecting me to join.  Which, I might have except then, she told me something else.  She told me my father was alive, I had an older sister, and I wasn't really Katrina Olana Derevko.  That made me very mad.  So, I ran away.  I came to the U.S.A. and that's when I joined the C.I.A. I lived my life here, came to know you, and after awhile you – you became my job."

"Why?"

"I found out about your involvement with SD-6. I got the C.I.A. on it.  They appointed me to find out as much as I could, and I did, without you ever knowing."

"Oh…" Marshall faded out for a minute.  Then, a little more quietly asked, "Our—our love, was it, uh, ever….real?"

"Yes, it was always real.  I didn't fake my death to get out of marriage.  In fact, after I got off the phone, I was devastated.  Then they told me to play spy again.  I've been watching you, following you, protecting you all these years.  Everyday asking when I could tell you the truth, reveal myself to you…"

"Suzie—I uh, mean Katrina, what is your real name?"

She looked down a minute, trying to figure out how to say what she needed to say.

"Do I look like anyone you know?  Even remotely?" she asked.

Marshall stared at her a few minutes.  Then he smiled. 

"You know, you kinda look like a…Brist…ow."

She nodded.  "My real name is Katrina Olana Bristow.  Jack—he's my father, and – and Sydney's my big sister.  I'll officially meet both of them for the first time when they come to see you.  They'll be here soon."

"Wow.  I always thought that Sydney reminded me of you—or something like that…"

There was an awkward silence, and then Katrina spoke.

"What do you mean?"

" Well, I, uh mean that, after you "died", very shortly after, Sydney came to work for SD-6.  She looked so much like you, I—I saw her and you at the same time.  The worst—well not worst, but hardest thing was she was, uh always around.  Everywhere I turned.  So, I tried to stay busy, so I wouldn't be—this is, uh, going to sound horrible, but –remind me of you. "

"I understand.  And don't be sorry for that."

"Is it okay if I ask you a question?" 

"Yeah.  Go ahead.  Just like before, only this time, no secrets both ways."

"Why did you fake your death?  You –you, uh, never really answered before."

"Well, when I ran away from my mother, she didn't know where I went.  She didn't know I was in America, helping the C.I.A. work against her.  Then, I don't know how, but she found out.  When she did, she sent someone to kill me.  Luckily, the C.I.A. found out before someone came to kill me.  The C.I.A. sent me to France—but first we had to fake my death so they would think I was dead.  So, we pretended the airplane crashed.  When I was back, Sydney had found out about SD-6, and I was re-assigned to follow you, and ultimately protect you.  That old Russian woman with the bad comeback insults on your plane to Cairo that was me.   You were shot, because you thought you saw me and tried to protect me. It was me, and you did protect me, you saved my life.  That was the first time I had ever let you down, but I tried to help for as long as I could.  I put pressure on it until I had to leave.  Then I monitored you, and almost ripped Sark to shreds when he tried to shoot you the second time…"

"Don't feel bad about it.  I'm fine.  It, uh, really hurt when it happened, but I'm – fine."

"Good, I'm glad.  Do you have any more questions?  We have to get you out of here soon." 

"Um…not really.  I think I'm all set."  He gave her a smile, which she returned with one of her own.

"Okay, well then, you will be meeting with your Eric Weiss.  He'll be your handler.  He'll tell you what your counter missions are, all the things you need to know.  I'll be around if you need me."

Seeing a face in the doorway, and hearing a knock on the door, Katrina went over and let the man who was in there before inside.  Marshall assumed it was Eric Weiss.  

"How you doing, Marshall?" he asked.  "My name is Eric Weiss.  I'll be your handler."

The guy seemed nice enough, so he figured he might as well be friendly.  He also thought he'd have to get along with his handler, so he might as well start out that way, and from the looks of it, that wouldn't be too hard.

Katrina walked out the door, but made them aware that she'd be back.

"Let's get down to business," Eric said.

The most dangerous part of Marshall's life, was about to unravel.

~          *           ~          *           ~          *           ~

In the depths of Michael's heart, he was sincerely afraid of what Jack would say.  He always had this look, like he would love to kill you, even when he was kidding with you.  This was why, when Jack did speak, that it surprised him with what he said.

"I don't mind if you love my daughter.  I don't mind if she loves you.  I don't even mind that you two just broke protocol," Jack said.  "What I do mind, Agent Vaughn is if someone hurts my daughter.  I respect you, at least I did, but you should have fair warning. If you hurt Sydney in any way I will---"

Michael cut him off.  "I do not intend to hurt Sydney.  We love each other, we always have, and protocol, as the C.I.A. loves to call it, won't impede on that anymore."

"I'm glad you feel that way.  Devlin will not.  It may or may not matter to you, but it matters to me.  Keep your less than professional relationship to yourselves."

"I will."

"Good.  Now, let's go."

So they walked out together, and got into their separate cars.  All three of them sped off into the city, to the C.I.A. underground headquarters where Marshall was. 


	10. Chapter 10

      **Chapter Ten**

   Katarina sat on a bench outside the office Marshall was in.  She always had loved that man and knew she always would.  Seeing him find out the truth was almost too much for her to handle, but she knew she would be fine as long as Marshall still trusted her.  And he did.  

   So she sat, waiting for a moment she had dreamed of forever.  Having her family was the one thing she told a Russian Santa as she was sitting on his lap every year as a child, and every Christmas she was in tears when there was none in sight.  Now that she would have one, some new thoughts crossed her mind.  Thoughts she couldn't help but have.

   The greatest thought kept swirling back into her head.  It wouldn't go away, at least not for long.  She kept wondering if her new family would love her.  All that she had heard about her father, Jack Bristow, were about how unemotional he was.  But she didn't care.  He was her father and she would make the most of it.  

   She was just as anxious to meet her older sister.  Everyone always raved about her.  All the agents she knew thought very highly of her.  It seemed to her that Sydney could be one of the things in life she knew she had missed out on.  She didn't know how, but she could feel her.  She was close.

            ~            *            ~            *            ~            *

   Sydney got to the building Marshall was in.  Somehow, she felt her little sister was near.  She walked through the doorway, and looked to a bench.

   "So you're Sydney Bristow," Katarina said with a smile.

   "Yeah," Sydney said. "You can call me Syd."

   Katarina nodded.  Sydney sat down next to her.  

   "They couldn't tell me your name.  What is it?" 

   "Katarina Olana Derevko was my given name.  It seems like everyone here hates Derevko's though, and I don't blame them, so I changed it to what it should have been-- Katarina Olana Bristow.  Call me Kat."

   There was an awkward silence for a minute.  Both knew wanted to know as much as possible about each other-- so Katarina brought up her father.

   "Are you and Dad close?" she asked.

   This somewhat shocked Sydney.

   "Well, um, we weren't for a very long time."

   Kat became saddened.  If Jack wasn't close to Sydney for a long time, who he had known about, how could she expect him to be close with her for a long time?

   Sydney immediately saw her disappointment.  So, she continued with how they did become close, and him actually making an effort.  This, as Sydney had planned, made her feel better.

   They continued talking and after a few minutes Vaughn walked in. He gave them a smile, addressed more to Sydney than to Katarina.

    Kat leaned over to Sydney. "Who's he?" 

    "Michael Vaughn.  He's my handler," Sydney replied.

  "Oohh," Kat said with great pleasure, "I see.  He's cute."

  "Yes he is."

  Kat had a huge smile on her face.  "Have you ever kissed?"

  Sydney's smile was plastered on her face and would not go away, even if she wanted it to.  "Yeah, actually the first time was half an hour ago.  Then Dad caught us."

  "Ouch! That's never good."

  "Well, at least he's still alive,"  Sydney joked.  

  "Yeah, well it's kind of hard to kill a guardian angel."

  Sydney eyed her suspiciously.  "Who told you about that?"

  "Eric.  He's told me a lot about you two."

  Sydney was about to  say something, but Vaughn's journey down the hallway had come to an end.  

  "Hi, I'm Michael Vaughn."

  "Katarina Bristow."

  "Your dad's outside.  He wants to see you."

  "Okay.  Well, it was nice meeting you, Michael."

  "She's definitely a Bristow," Michael said aloud to himself.  

  "What do you mean?"  Sydney asked.  

  He wanted to smack himself in the head.  He didn't mean to say that out loud.  

  "Well," he said trying to word everything right. "you and your sister and your dad all have the same-- ears.  You also have the same eyes, sometimes you and your dad share the same attitude, and I think Katarina probably does too, and you all walk the same way."

  "How do we walk?"

  Michael began to think of his next move.

~          *            ~            *            ~            *            ~

  Marshall sat in a stuffy little room.  He was sitting in front of a mountain of papers, which for the most part had information about SD-6 on them.  He was nearing the end of his stack, and of his knowledge.  His fingers and his head ached, and his pen was running out of ink, but he kept writing, if not for the C.I.A., then for Kat.  

  Thinking that, his mind wandered fully to Kat.  He knew the way he felt, the question was if she felt the same.  She acted like she did love him still, so Marshall, after a few minutes came up with the fact that if she acts that way, she must feel that way-- at least he hoped so.

  Thinking of Kat, Marshall had a sudden urge to talk to her.  He wanted to at least see her beautiful face.  He looked out of a window in the tiny room to search for that face, but he ended up with only the face of her sister, which was fairly similar.  Sydney was outside, laughing with some guy.

   "They're something aren't they?" Weiss asked.  He was smiling, so evidently he knew who the other man was. 

   "Who is he?"

   "Agent Michael Vaughn.  He's Sydney's handler.  I've been watching those two for awhile and those two are going to go the distance, or get each other kicked out of the C.I.A., whichever comes first.  Handler's and their assets aren't supposed to be as close as those two are, but I won't tell Devlin, my boss, and they won't so as long as they lay low, they'll be fine."

   He was playing with his yo-yo now and was now looking back at Marshall instead of out the window at Sydney and Michael. Then growing inpatient added, "Are you almost done?"

   "Well, all I have left is up-coming stuff.  Do you know how to hakki-sac?  I could use a break," Marshall said as he pulled out two hakki sacs from his pocket.

   "No," he said with a smile.  Then looking out the window to see if anyone was coming said, "But I'd love to learn.  You yo-yo?"

            ~            *            ~            *            ~            *

   Katarina headed outside.  There was only one person outside, so she rightfully assumed that he was Jack Bristow--her father.  She walked closer and felt her heat beat ten times faster.  He was looking down, but she knew he could sense her presence, or at least some ones presence.  As she grew closer, he looked up.

  "Katarina?" he asked. 

  All she could do was nod her head as a knot grew in her throat.

  "You're probably wondering how I knew your real name.  It's been confidential for a very long time.  I have what most would call connections, and they told me."

  "From who?" Katarina found herself able to say.

  "Well I got the Katarina part from Michael Vaughn, then I asked Devlin for your name and he gave it to me."

  "Oh."

  They stood in silence for a few minutes, then Jack began to speak again, knowing he'd have to say it sometime.  

  "I know you've heard things about me, probably not the best things, but I thought you should know something." Her eyes told him to continue.   "I was never around in your childhood, I wasn't much in Sydney's life either. But, you learn a lot from being a parent, as much from your mistakes as from your children.  I don't want to be shut out of your life like I was in Sydney's.  I'd like to be a better father.  Like a second chance.  Will you let me?"

  He gazed at her beautiful brown eyes, which were now glistening with tears.  

  "Okay," she managed. 

  He walked closer to her and hugged her.

  "Do you want to go somewhere?" he whispered in her ear.

  "Where?" she asked.

  "It's a surprise.  If you're too busy, want to stay with Marshall, or just don't want to come I'll understand."

  No, I'll come.  I just need to tell Marshall I'm leaving, and make sure Sydney and Michael are behaving." 

  So she wiped the tears from her eyes, gave her father a small smile, and headed outside.

            ~            *            ~            *            ~            *

  Sydney was waiting and Michael knew it.  He decided since no one was around he might as well show her how the Bristow's walked. 

  "Okay," he said.  "You have to promise me that you won't get mad at me."

  "I promise," she said.

  "Now you have to promise me that you won't laugh and make fun of me for the rest of my life for this."

   "All right, I promise.  Now show me!" she said.

   "Fine.  This is the mad Bristow walk, that's really more like a jog."

   So he walked/jogged over to a table, picked up a rag, put it on his head, and made it sway.  He walked to the end of the hallway before he heard any laughter.  He turned around. 

   "You promised," he said. 

   "I lied."

   "Sydney Bristow telling a lie?" 

   "Sydney Bristow lies to everyone.  What makes you so special?"

   She looked upset now, and Michael regretting what he said.  Then he had a garunteed thing to cheer her up.  

   "Next we have the 'regular' Bristow walk."

   "Okay," she said a smile back on her face.  "Go ahead, and this time I won't laugh until you do."

   So Michael headed down the hallway.  He slightly swayed his hips, and slightly moved his arms forward and backward.  

   About a minute later he erupted in laughter and so did Sydney.  He walked his 'regular' over to the bench Sydney was sitting on, and sat down next to her.  They continued 

laughing and Michael put his arm around Sydney.  They both suddenly stopped laughing.

   "Do you think there are any cameras watching us?" Michael asked. 

   "If there are they've already seen the best of Michael Vaughn," Sydney joked as she laid her head down on his shoulder.

   "Not really.  They'd need to see one more thing first."

   Sydney sat up.  And without another word Michael leaned over and kissed her.  He thought it would seem awkward to both of them for his arm to be around her in a C.I.A. building, let alone a kiss, but it definitely was not awkward to him, and by the way Sydney returned his kiss, he could tell she was as comfortable as he was.

   Neither of them knew it, but they had a visitor.  She had been standing there for only a few minutes, but sometimes it takes only a few minutes to realize when two people were in love.  Katarina didn't want to interrupt them, but she needed to tell them she was leaving.

   After a few minutes of standing there watching her older sister kiss an agent that she wasn't supposed to be kissing, which she didn't care that they were, she began to grow impatient.  She couldn't keep it in any longer, she had to say it.

   "We'll be right back to 'The Best of Michael Vaughn' after this commercial break!" Kat said loud enough for them to hear.

   They both looked up with tremendous alarm, which almost instantly turned into relief.  Then they blushed.  How long had they been kissing?  How long had Kat been standing there? Did anyone else see them? All those thoughts seemed to swarm away when Kat began to speak to them.

   "Sorry to interrupt," she began. "but I wanted to let you know that I'm going somewhere with Dad."

   "Where are you going?" Sydney asked with a smile.

   "He wouldn't say."

   All of a sudden, they heard shouts from the next room.  The room Marshall and Eric were in.

   "Oh!" they heard Eric say.

   "You almost had it that time!" exclaimed Marshall loud enough for all of them to hear.

   "Now you go Marshall," they heard Eric say.

   "Okay," came the reply.

   There was a drum roll, then silence.

   "OW!!" they heard followed by a loud thud.

   They raced to the room not knowing what to expect.  When they opened the door, and got inside, they found Marshall face down on the floor, and Eric just standing there looking at him.

   "Eric," Michael said. "What happened to Marshall?"

   Eric closely resembled a five year old.  "I didn't do it!" he said very quickly.

   "What happened?"  Michael asked again.

   "We were teaching each other things very important things."

   "Like?" Michael urged him.

   "He needed a break, he's got a lot of F.Y.I.s in that head of his.  He asked me if I knew how to play hakki sac and I told him no, so he showed me how.  Then I was showing him the how-to's of yo-yo.  He wanted to try to do "around the world", so I let him...on his way around the world he got smacked in the head.  He said he was dizzy, then-- THUD.  He's was down on the ground."

   "I'm fine," Marshall said.  "Really, I'm-- ow! fine."

   Katarina handed him a pill.  He stared at it.

   "Marshall?  Are you okay?"

   "Yeah I'm fine," Marshall told her. "What is it?"

   "Advil."

   "Okay," he said grasping it.

   "Aren't you going to take it?"

   "I'm sorry, Kat, but I can't."

   "Can't or Won't?" she asked angrily. "Don't worry, Marshall, I understand completely."

  Her eyes were welling up with tears.  He didn't trust her.  She may have changed her name, but to him, she'd always be a  Derevko.  That made her unable to be trusted.  That's how it would be-- forever.

  She began to go.

  "Kat," he said.  "Don't --"

  "Save it," she cut him off and ran out the door.

  She was furious now.  At her mother, at the C.I.A., and at Marshall.  But as the same time she was mad at herself.  Not knowing what else to do she walked faster.

  Back inside they were all quiet.  They all had an idea of what she thought, and Michael wanted to know if that was what Marshall had meant.

  "Marshall, why didn't you take the pill?" he asked.

  "I guess she forgot, I can't swallow them.  Never have, never will.  Help me up." he replied.

  "Where are you going?"  Eric asked.  "You've got more to do."

  "Where does it look like I'm going? I'm going after Kat... SD-6 can wait."

  Without a moments hesitation, they helped him up.

   He ran out into the hallway.  He searched for Kat, and didn't see her.  Then he saw a door close.  He couldn't let her get away. 

   He kept running.  Then he saw her.  Marshall grabbed her arm.  She turned around.  Before either of them could say a word, Marshall kissed her.  

   After her initial shock, she remembered.  Marshall couldn't swallow pills.

   Marshall was expecting to be smacked, or at least for her to pull away.  What he got was ten times better and exactly the opposite.  She kissed him back.  It was like they'd been separated for a life time, and were about to be for another.

   They were the only two people in the world in that moment--their moment.  Both of them realized that they still loved and trusted each other.  What they didn't know was that Michael, Sydey, and Eric were all piled up outside the door they had just gone through, enjoying every minute of it.  Jack, who was also watching througha different door, had slipped inside to find what was taking Kat so long.  He had found her all right.  He, unlike the others, didn't stay, he went back outside and waited for them to finish.

   Suddenly, as if their world collapsed, they stopped. 

   "I've got to go," Kat said.

   "Me, uh, too," came Marshall's reply.

   So they went their separate ways, Marshall greeted by cheers as he came through the door and found Sydney, Michael, and Eric all standing together, except for Eric, he wasn't a very good spy.  He was still on the floor.  

   He knew things could get worse in his life, but it wouldn't matter, as long as he had Kat.  


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 

  "WILLIAM TIPPIN!!" Francie yelled.  

  Will didn't know why Francie had yelled for him, or why she was back from the restaurant early, but he didn't think he wanted to.  He couldn't think of anything that he had done to deserve yelling like that—at least not today.

  He scrambled under the table hoping to escape her wrath.  He heard footsteps, and saw Francie's feet stop right next to him.  Will's breathing slowed, almost stopped.  His heartbeat was the only noise he heard, except for is pounding head, and even they seemed to give away his position. 

  All in a sudden life threatening moment, Will had to sneeze.  Terror filled his soul.  He tried everything to get the sneeze not to come, but it was useless.  He was dead.  His life would cease to exist, and he wouldn't even know why.

  Then it came, the sneeze to end all sneezes.  

  ACHOO!!!

  Suddenly his only assurance of life, the tiny little table, was thrust at full speed over his head.  He had been exposed. 

  Whatever it was he did,  Will knew it must have bad.  VERY VERY bad.  He gathered that fact when Francie picked up a chair and threw it across the room.  There was no place for Will to go, or he would have been there ten hours before that sneeze.

  Before he knew what hit him, he was slammed into the wall.   He had never seen anyone this mad, especially not Francie.  She had a strange sort of fire in her eyes that Will had never seen before, which Will effectively noted as Francie's eyes were pinned on him.  He was blown away by her strength.  Her strength was limited though, and for that Will was grateful.

  He felt pain on his ear.  Francie was pulling him by his ear over to the couch.  She shoved him down, then she began to pace.

  Will very hesitantly said, "Um…Francie, you just pulled a Bobby Knight on me…Did I…I don't know…do something wrong?"

  "Did you do something wrong?!?!?!?! I think you already know the answer to that!" 

  She stared at him in amazement of his cluelessness.  

  "Do you remember last night at the restaurant?  I asked you to wash the dishes and close up for me? "

  She didn't wait for him to answer.

  "Yes, you did the dishes, and you locked up."

  "Then what's the problem?"

  "The problem is, that I unlocked the kitchen ten minutes ago and got soaked in water!  Yeah, you certainly did do the dishes AND YOU LEFT THE WATER ON WHEN YOU WERE DONE! I SWEAR THERE WAS ENOUGH WATER IN THERE TO FILL A POND!" 

  "Francie, I'm really sorry."

  "No, Will, I'm sorry.  You're fired," Francie replied with a stern force.  "And you need to pack up your stuff and leave.  I'll give you a half hour."

  "Francie, I have no money.  Where am I gonna get a place?  Or a job?  No one's gonna hire me!"

  "Well you should have thought of that before you became a drug addict.  I mean it, Will, you have a half hour.

  Then she went into her room and slammed the door.

            ~            *            ~            *            ~            *

  They had been riding for awhile, and Kat still had no idea where her father was taking her.  They hadn't had much conversation, and Kat began to bring up Marshall, but then remembered instantly the sweet kiss they had just shared, and she wouldn't have wanted to get herself or Marshall into trouble, especially with Jack Bristow.  So they continued to ride in silence, both wanting to say something, neither knowing where to start.  Then Kat thought of a question.

  "So…Dad…where are we going?" 

  "A very secret, special place, which is why I'm not telling you,"  Jack said with a grin.

  "Oh come on, Dad!  Reward my curiosity!"

  Jack reached his hand into the back seat, and pulled out a Vanilla Coke.  "Here," he said as he handed it to her.  "You're curiosity has been rewarded."

  "Ha ha ha," Kat said as she opened it and took a sip.

  "Well I thought I was funny.  You have to admit that it was funny."

  "No I don't."

  "Well, either that, or you have to admit that I could do commercial's for Vanilla Coke."

  "You can do the commercial's."

  "Do you picture me as the old mobster type?"

  "Of course."

  They both gave up the act then and laughed.  That's when she heard it.  It was music.  Soft, soothing music.  Then she saw it.  They were going to a carousel.  

            ~            *            ~            *            ~            *            ~

  Sydney and Michael were now closely monitoring Marshall and Eric.  They were almost done now, and Marshall would have to go home soon.  Sloane had requested that Marshall come in for the next op-tech report. 

  Marshall set down his pen and wriggled his arm around.  He looked up.  Michael was holding Sydney in his arms.  Eric followed Marshall's gaze, then their eyes met.  Marshall smiled, and so did Eric.

"Hey, Mike," Eric said.  "Guardian angels aren't suppose to be that close to their assignments."

"Oh, it's okay," Marshall told him.  "Michael and I are going to have a double Bristow wedding."

Sydney and Michael both looked at him with shock.  Did he say something upsetting or had they never thought of that, Marshall didn't know.  "I was just…um…. Kidding?"  Marshall said with a questioning tone.

Sydney and Michael smiled, both wanting to say how nice that would be, but not able to.  Protocol still had a tiny tug on them, maybe more so then they thought. They both wiped the smile off their faces.

"Of course you were," Michael told him.

Marshall could tell they were both hurt, but could also tell there was nothing he could do to change that.

"I have to go," Michael said.

He gave Sydney a soft kiss, then walked out the door, leaving the three of them alone to finish.

~          *            ~            *            ~            *            ~

Kat was somewhat confused.  Why were they at a carousel?  Her dad was smiling, and she didn't know why.

"Why are we here?" she asked him.

"I used to bring Sydney here when she was little.  We would ride together.  She rode that one… the one with the blue mane with pink roses in it.  It was her favorite."

Kat saw how much this place meant to him, and somehow, it became important to her too.  They sat in silence for a few minutes, just taking in the soft music.

Jack looked at his daughter with loving eyes.  Kat sensed his gaze, and turned and looked back.

"Would you like to ride?"  He asked her.

"Would they let us?"

"No one's here.  I had a few words with the gentleman operating, and he said we could use it until 7:45."

"How many words?"

"Twenty or so."

Kat smiled and nodded. "Sure."

So the two mounted their steeds.  Kat chose the horse that was next to Sydney's.  Jack picked the one behind it.  They rode around fifteen times, talking about everything in the process.  Well… everything except Marshall. 

"Can I make it go faster?"  Kat asked.

"Do you know how?"  Jack's curiosity got the best of him.

"Of course!" she told him with a roll of her eyes.

"As long as you switch it back when we're done, I don't think that it would be a problem."

So Kat hopped off her horse and went to the control panel.  After a few minutes of fidgeting, the carousel began to pick up speed.  Kat jumped back on and got back up on her horse.  After only a few minutes, the carousel began to make it around two times faster then normal.

Kat felt like she was flying.  She closed her eyes and let everything soak in.  She remembered her childhood, not having a dad, being lonely.  Then she remembered something else.

_[I]::Flashback::_

_"Mommy! I want to ride the purple horsey!"  Katarina yelled._

_"Katarina, you can't."  
  
"Why not? Other people are riding them."_

_"Katarina, Baby, wouldn't you rather ride mommy's friend Alexander's pony?"_

_"Mr. Alexander smells like—"_

_"Katarina Olana!  The answer is no."  Irina told her sternly._

_"My daddy would have let me," Katarina muttered._

_"What did you say, young lady?"_

_"Nothing, Mommy."_

_"Okay, well let's go. Mommy has a meeting to go to."_

_"Alright."_

_Katarina sighed as she let her mother take her hand, and pull her into their car._

_::END FLASHBACK::[/I]_

She continued thinking until she heard a thud.  Jack was on the floor.  He was laughing, so Kat wasn't too worried.

"Dad, what happened?"

"I fell off my horse."

"You were on a stationary one.  It wasn't even moving!" Kat laughed.

"I know.  I just…fell off,"  he shrugged impishly.  The look on his face was priceless… something  she had never seen from him before.  It made her laugh even harder as she wondered who this man really was.

"Alright.  Do you want me to put it back to normal speed?"

"Yeah, sure.  It's almost 7:45 anyway."

  So Kat went back to the control panel and put everything into it's original setting.  Then she got into Jack's car.  

  "Dad," Kat whispered.  "Did Mom know about the carousel?"

  "Yeah, she did.  She hated it when I took Sydney here.  Why?"

  "Riding back there, I remembered something.  I remember Mom not letting me ride carousel's back in Russia.  I'd mutter about how 'my Daddy would have let me' and she'd get SO angry…"

  Jack slowed the car down.  "Does she know you're here in LA?"

 "When I was engaged to Marshall, she found out.   The CIA somehow intercepted that she was sending someone to kill me.  I ran away, then came back a few years later.  I don't know if she knows I'm here or not now…Do you think she knows?"

  "I don't know.  It's hard to tell anything with that woman.  She is very deceitful and no one could possibly comprehend her intentions.  Maybe you should go into witness protection or protective custody for awhile if you think she knows."

  "Dad, you have got to promise me something.  Never make me go into protective custody or witness protection.  You have to promise me.  I had to go away for so long, I don't want to get back into that state…especially not now."

  "I won't unless we have no choice."

 "Dad, there is never such a thing as no choice.  Please just say you'll stop them from doing that to me if they ever dare to try. "

  The look in her brown eyes was one of pain and lament.  She was trying not to cry, but wasn't succeeding.  As the tears streamed down her face, Jack had to do something to stop her pain.

  "I promise," he whispered in a calm reassuring voice.

  "Thank you."

            ~            *            ~            *            ~            *            ~

  "Okay," Marshall sighed with relief.  "I'm done."

  "Good!"  Eric exclaimed.

  "Marshall, you should probably go home and get some rest.  Sloane wanted you to explain our next mission to us tomorrow morning," Sydney added.

  "Yeah, he wants me to come into the office tomorrow.  He decided I was well enough to come in to explain the tech.  I guess he figured you needed to touch the tech before the mission, so now I'm stuck with the opportunity to slip up and tell Sloane I'm going behind his back by working for the real CIA and end up getting killed.  Isn't that just my luck?" 

  "You won't slip up, Marshall.  Just remember that Kat's gonna want to see you and you won't mess up," Sydney joked. "Are you leaving now?  I'll give you a ride to your car.  Where were you at when you got picked up?"

  "Actually, it's right in front of your house."

  "My house…why?"

  "Oh, I was coming to talk to you about Suzie…or Kat, but she was Suzie at the time…anyway I don't really need to talk now."

  "Okay.  Come on let's go."

  "Marshall," Eric called after him.  "Remember that it's me calling if you hear 'Suzie Tolley's'.  That's really important.  Don't forget and remember to meet me at the park.  I don't want to be there all day."

  "I won't forget," he said.

  Sydney drove Marshall almost all the way to her house.  She dropped him off about a block away.  

  "Go get into your car.  I'll go over once you've passed me.  I'll talk to you tomorrow," Sydney cheerfully said to him as Marshall got out of her car.

  "Thanks for the ride, Syd."

  "Your welcome."

  And he continued the walk down to his car.  He got in just in time.

 Out of the house came Will.  A young African American woman that Marshall had never seen before was following him.

  Will opened the back door to Marshall's car and threw his stuff inside.  Then  he got into the front seat next to Marshall.  

"Please, Will, don't go!  I'm sorry, I was being stupid!"

"No, Francie, you weren't being stupid, you were being truthful.  You and Syd have been great, but now it's time for me to quit fully depending on you guys.  I can make it on my own.  I'll be fine. I'll get a job somewhere and eventually get my own place."

"You don't have to go," Francie pleaded.

"I know, Francie, but I want to go.  It'll be better this way."

  "Okay," she hesitantly gave in.

  "I'll talk to you later, I promise.  You aren't getting rid of me this easily."

  Then he shut the car door.

  He turned to Marshall. "Hey, man thanks for doing this for me."

  Marshall, who was still immensely confused, said, "No…problem."

  Then he began to drive away.

  "So, what happened?" Marshall inquired. 

  "I messed up…big time.  It's a long story."

  "It's a fairly long ride to my house."

  So Will began to explain it all. 

            ~            *            ~            *            ~            *            ~

  Sydney sat in her car waiting for Marshall's o.k.  She saw a car approaching.  It was Marshall, but there was someone else in the car with him.  Her eyes grew wide as she figured out who it was.  It was Will.

  Marshall gave her the okay nod, so she went home to get some explanations from Francie.  

  Sydney was home in no time.  The door was locked, as Sydney had expected, so she took out her key and unlocked the door.  

 "Francie?" she called.

  "I'm in my room," Francie called back.  

  "Hey," Sydney said as she went into Francie's room.  "Where's Will?"

  Francie looked down.  "I kicked him out."

  "What?  Francie…"

  "I know, I know.  He flooded the restaurant, and I was mad.  I told him he had a half-hour to get out.  I tried to apologize to him, but he wouldn't let me.  I told him he could stay, but He told me he wanted to fend for himself… "

  "Where'd he go?  He only has money from the dish washing at the restaurant."

  "He called someone named Marshall.  I had never heard of him, or met him, but he seems nice.  A little eccentric, but nice."

  Sydney nodded.  "Okay, well…what about the restaurant?  How much damage?"

  "I had some guys come in to give me an estimate, they said about 3,000 dollars or so…but that's just an estimate.  It shouldn't be too much though.  What about you?  Where were you today?  I was getting worried."

  "I know, I'm sorry.  I was getting ready to leave and got called into an emergency meeting for some new project.  I got here as soon as I could."

  "That's what I thought.  Seriously Syd, you need to take a break.  A few days off never did anyone any harm."

  Sydney yawned.  "Yeah, I could use a day off.  I should be having one soon.  Then we can have a girl's night out.  Any movies you want to see?"

  "Um…I haven't really heard anything too exciting.  There's going to be some kind of spy movie coming out.  But I'll keep my eyes peeled.  Somebody's got to make a new chick flick sooner or later."

  "Okay, well you keep your eyes peeled.  I need some rest.  It was horrible today at work.  I'm going to sleep."

  "Alright, goodnight, Syd."

  "'Night."

  So Sydney went into her room to get ready for bed.

            ~            *            ~            *            ~            *            ~

  Marshall unlocked his front door and was immediately attacked with kisses by an adorable puppy.  Marshall picked the tiny puppy up.

  "This is Freddy," Marshall told Will as he handed him the puppy.

  "Hello, Freddy," Will managed in between kisses from Freddy.

  Marshall took Freddy back and set him on the floor.  Then they began the tour, Freddy at their heels.  They went to the kitchen, the two full bathrooms, the computer room, and Marshall's bedroom.  Then they came to a closed door.

  "This is your room," Marshall told Will as he opened the door.  "Make yourself at home."

  "Wow," Will said as he walked in.  "This is great.  Thanks again, Marshall.  This means a lot to me. "

  "Your welcome, it's no problem.  Listen, I've got this big meeting tomorrow and I need to get some sleep.  So I'll see you tomorrow morning.  Let me know if you need anything."

  "Sure, goodnight."

  "Goodnight."

  And Marshall walked out and into his bedroom.

  Will began to get ready for bed, when he thought of something.  He ran into the hallway to talk to Marshall.

  "Hey, Marshall?"

  "Yeah…"

  "How did you know where to pick me up?  I didn't leave you the directions on your phone."

  "I…I work with Sydney."

  "At the bank?"

  "Yes, at the bank."

  "Oh, okay, well, sorry to bother you.  Goodnight."

  "Goodnight."

  So Will went back to his room.  He waited a few minutes, then he called Sydney.

  "Hello?" came Sydney's tired voice.

  "Syd, it's me."

  "Will?"

  "Yeah, hey do you know a Marshall Flinkman?  I'm staying with him.  He says he works with you.  Does he know about SD-6?"

  He heard Sydney coughing.

  "Will," she said in a panicky voice, "You made up SD-6 when you were high."

  "Sydney, I—"

  Then he remembered.  SD-6 had probably bugged Marshall's house, Sydney's house, and his cell phone.  SD-6 was probably listening to their conversation.

  "Just get some sleep Will.  I'll talk to you later."

  And then she hung up.

  Will felt so stupid.  He thought of all the things that might happen because of him now.  Sydney could get hurt and it would be all his fault.  

  Going to bed became a better and better idea, so he crawled onto the bed and within moments he was asleep.

            ~            *            ~            *            ~            *            ~

  Sydney was pacing.  She was extremely tired, but after what had just happened, she couldn't just go to sleep.  She had tried to call Vaughn, but his phone was busy.  So she called him again.  It was busy.

  Then she took out her bug killer lipstick, and called her dad.  

  "Dad?"

  "Sydney, what's wrong?"

  "Is it on?"

  "Yes."

  "Will just called me.  He's staying with Marshall.  He called and forgot all about the bugs and everything, and he mentioned SD-6.  I tried to call Vaughn, but his phone's busy.  What should we do?"

  "What is Will doing with Marshall?"

  "Francie kicked him out and somehow, Marshall and Will met before that and now Marshall offered him to stay at his house.  It's a long story."

  "I'll call Devlin and see what we can do.  You keep trying Vaughn."

  "Okay.  How'd it go with Kat?"

  "Good, I just dropped her off.  Call Vaughn. "

 They both hung up.  Sydney immediately dialed Vaughn's number.  It rang ten times, but Sydney let it.

  "Vaughn here."

  "Hey, it's me.  No Joey's Pizza tonight…"

  She began to explain everything to him.

            ~            *            ~            *            ~            *            ~

  Devlin and Weiss were both waiting for Vaughn to get off the phone.  

  "I'll see what we can do," he said. "Be careful."

  Then he hung up the phone.

  "That was Sydney.  She thinks that her and Marshall will be taken into SD-6 custody tomorrow morning."

  "Why?" came Devlin's immediate reply.

  "She got a phone call from Will Tippin.  Evidently he mentioned too much on the phone.  We don't know what SD-6 heard, or if they heard anything at all."

  "How does Flinkman come into this?"

  "Tippin is staying with him.  They met earlier in the week, and Marshall offered to let him stay at his house."

  "I've read Flinkman's statement.  I think we were wrong with the 2 months 'til take down.  If we work the right way, we can take them down by the end of the week."

  "What should we do about the phone call?"

  "Nothing.  We'll have to see what happens."

  "Sir—"

  "Agent Vaughn, this is not your decision to make.  It's mine, and I've made it.  You might not agree with it, but it's my decision.  I—"

  His phone ringing interrupted him.

  "Yeah," he said as he picked up the phone.  He pointed to the door and Vaughn and Weiss left.

  "This is Jack.  Have you heard from Sydney?"

  "Yes, she just called Vaughn."

  "What are you going to do about it?"

  "We're going to wait and see if Sloane takes action."

  "This is MY daughter we're talking about.  If you don't do something about it, I [I]will[/I] do something myself."

  "Jack, we'll do something, but we need to make sure that Sloane is going to do something first.  Trust me on this one."

  "I have known Arvin Sloane for over 30 years.  He will do something.  I'll call you tomorrow, and you better have a plan, or I will."

  Devlin was about to say something, but Jack had hung up.  All Devlin could hear was the dial tone.  He hung up the phone, then he picked it back up.

  "Send Agent Vaughn, Agent Weiss, and some of our strategists in here.  Tell them it's urgent and to hurry."

  "Yes, Sir."

  A few minutes later all of them were in Devlin's office.  

  "Here's what we're going to do…"

  And the plan began to be put together.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Sydney woke to the sound of her alarm clock. She looked out her window. It was beautiful outside, but to her it was dark and gloomy.

As she got dressed and began to get breakfast, she couldn't help but wonder if Michael had come up with a plan. After a few minutes, Sydney realized that she was writing Michael's name in her oatmeal instead of eating it. So, she took out her cell phone and dialed his number.

It rang. And rang. And rang. And rang. Then, she heard him.

"Hey, this is Michael Vaughn."

"Michael, it's me—"

"I can't come to the phone right now, please leave a message after the beep."

BEEP!

"Hey, it's me. What's the plan? Call me as soon as you can."

Then she hung up and headed to work.

She took the long way to work; hoping Michael would call her back. He didn't.

Sydney took a deep breath as she entered the SD-6 parking garage. She desperately hoped that Michael had a plan. She looked into her rear-view mirror and saw several men coming towards her.

Immediately her cell phone was out and she hit redial. She got Michael's machine again.

"Michael, I was right. They're—"

They were right outside her car door. She hung up.

Sydney turned off her car and walked out. She gave the men questioning looks, even though she knew what was going on,

"Come with us," one man said.

Sydney began to follow. Out of the corner of her eye she saw one man take out a gun and another take out handcuffs.

The man with the handcuffs came up to her. She tried to get away from him, but could not. He forcefully grabbed her arms and put the handcuffs tightly on her. Then the man with the gun came forward. He put the gun high above his head, then forcefully brought it down.

She instantly felt the sharp pain. Before she could even blink she was on the ground. Attempting to get away was her only option, so she tried to get up. As Sydney began to stand, everything went black and she was unconscious.

The men picked her up.

"Tell Mr. Sloane we have the part one of the package. We're bringing her inside now," the man with the gun said.

"Mr. Sloane says to take her to the conversation room," a voice replied.

So the men carried Sydney inside and took her to the conversation room.

A pair of hands was touching Marshall. In his mind it couldn't possibly be time to wake up, and had no idea who would be trying to wake him up. So, he kept his eyes closed, hoping that whoever it was would give up.

"Kat?" Marshall asked when the hands wouldn't give up.

"Umm…no. This is Will."

"Will who?"

"Will Tippin."

"Oh…that's nice…tell me, Will Tippin, what time is it?"

"9:47"

Marshall then woke up with a start.

"WHAT?!?! I'M LATE! AGAIN!"

"Again? How many times have you been late?"

"I'm not sure. I lost count awhile ago."

"And you haven't been fired yet?"

"Nope, not yet."

"I made you some food. I'll go put it in a bag for you and you can take it with you. You better hurry up."

"Okay, thanks, Will. I'll be down there in a minute."

Will left Marshall alone and went down to the kitchen. He had just finished putting Marshall's food in a bag when his cell phone rang.

"This is Will."

"Hey!" Francie's cheery voice said.

"Hey, Fran, what's up?"

"Umm..will you please come back? At least to the restaurant…I really need your help today. One of my busboys called in sick."

B-RING…B-RING!

"Hold on Francie. Marshall's phone just rang."

Will grabbed the phone.

"Marshall's house," he said.

"Can I speak to Marshall please?" a woman who sounded almost exactly like Sydney said.

"Who is this?" Will asked.

"Katarina…who's this?"

"Will…Tippin. So do you have a last name?"

"Yeah, sorry. Katarina Bristow."

"Okay, I'll…I'll just go get Marshall."

He put his hand over the phone and walked over to the stairs wondering if Katarina was related to Sydney.

"MARSHALL!!!"

"Yeah!" Marshall yelled from upstairs.

"There is a Katarina on the phone for you!"

He heard a thud.

"I'm coming!"

Marshall came down almost instantly and took the phone from Will.

"Kat? Hey. I'm really sorry, but I can't talk now, I'm late for work…again. Yeah, I'll talk to you later. Bye!" Marshall told Kat.

Will picked up his cell phone.

"Francie, are you still there? Okay, well I'll be there in…30 minutes."

Then he hung up and turned to Marshall.

"Thanks for the food," Marshall said.

"Thanks for letting me stay here," Will replied.

"No problem. I gotta go. I'm already 20 minutes late."

"Alright, I'll see you when you get home. Then we can talk about Katarina."

Marshall smiled and nodded. Then he grabbed the food and his car keys and left.

He got into his car and turned it on.

"Click it or ticket, Marshall," he told himself. "And you can't afford another ticket."

He buckled his seatbelt, and put his Superchic[k] "Last One Picked" CD into his CD player. Then he backed out of his driveway.

"Let's go shuffle mode," he said as he pushed the shuffle button. "Oh! '_Na Na'_, great pick Marshall!"

Then the song began to play.

You're building a case against me

Prosecutor, judge, and jury

We've had this conversation in your head

Because I wasn't there you made up what I said

Or what I would have said

You know me so well

You've heard how I am and how I'm going to

Heaven knows we've never had this conversation

Should I be calling it a condemnation

Cuz you're not listening to me…

So

"NA NA NA NA NA," Marshall sang.

That's all I'm gonna say…

"NA NA NA NA NA…"

You've made up your mind anyway…

"NA NA NA NA NA…"

There's nothing I can do, so….

"NA NA NA NA NA…"

Couldn't we be friends if not for you?

I feel like the teacher from Charlie Brown…

"All you hear is that wah wah wah sound..."

Maybe I'm a Pokemon, Pikachu

That's what comes out when I'm talking to you

You're a crusader you've made me your fight…

"Your superhero name is Mr. Right…"

One verse, two choruses, and four songs later, Marshall was pulling into the SD-6 garage.

"Just don't kiss us 'til then!" Marshall sang.

He let the song finish, then took the CD out and put it in its case. Then he turned off his car, grabbed his briefcase, and headed inside. He was almost inside when he felt something go into his back.

Marshall tried to find whatever it was and pull it out. He felt something that felt like a dart, and pulled it out. It was a tranquilizer dart. After staggering a few steps, Marshall fell to the floor. He was in a deep sleep.

A group of men dragged him inside and threw him in a room.

"Make sure Mr. Sloane is aware that we have the second package, and the third will be here within the hour," one man told another.

"Right away," he replied.

Will stepped outside. He began his walk to Francie's restaurant.

He got the feeling that somebody was watching him. Then he remembered something Vaughn had told him: eyes are everywhere.

Without realizing it, he began to walk faster. He started to run and didn't stop until he reached the bus stop. He didn't need to get on the bus, but he wanted whoever was following him to come out into the open. As he sat on the bench, he thought about the previous night, he wondered if SD-6 suspected anything.

It was then that he realized the full extremity of the danger he might have put Sydney, Marshall, and himself in. The thought of them being tortured or worse killed by Arvin Sloane and his goons was horrifying. He shook his head trying to get the unpleasant thoughts to leave. They didn't. When Will felt a gun on his neck the horror washed over him ten times worse than before.

"Get in the van, Mr. Tippin," a distorted voice said.

"I…I don't want to," he said his courage building. "You're gonna hafta make me. KWAA!!"

Will was glad that Vaughn had been teaching him self-defense. He started to attack the man behind him. He successfully gave the man three blows and was about to deliver another when something hit him in the back.

It made him tired and dizzy. He tried to walk and it got worse. He reached to his back to look for a tranquilizer dart, but was hit with a gun over his head. He immediately fell to the ground.

"Put him in the van," one of the men said to two others.

Two men picked him up and put him in the van. Then they jumped in, and sped away down the street.

Michael Vaughn rubbed his eyes. Outlining the mission to take down SD-6 had taken until past 2:30 in the morning. He was tired, but needed to be awake just in case Sydney called.

He walked over to his phone and was greeted by Donovan. He had missed four calls. Michael pushed a few buttons, and he and Donovan were ready to listen.

The first call was from Alice. She was crying.

"Michael, it's me- - Alice," Donovan whined at the sound of Alice's voice. "I know you told me over a month ago that- - we were braking up…but- - but I want you to reconsider. I mean just think of how much we've been through…and…"

Michael sighed. "I wish she would just leave me alone! Don't you Donovan?"

The next message was from Eric.

"Hey, Mike. It's me, Eric. Devlin said for me to tell you to call in as soon as you hear from Sydney, if not before. Oh, and Alice keeps calling me and asking why you're avoiding her. She's called around twenty times so I'd appreciate it if you'd call her…or shut her up…or- - or something! She's driving me crazy! See you later."

Michael shook his head and sighed. Donovan did the same. Donovan despised Alice. She was so annoying… and all those frilly collars...enough said.

The next message was from Sydney.

"Hey, it's me. What's the plan? Call me as soon as you can."

He let the last message go, his mind still on Sydney.

"Michael, I was right. They're- -"

Sydney had been cut-off for some reason. It was all silent. This gave Michael a sudden jolt of energy. He quickly got dressed, grabbed a vanilla coke, and got into his car. He was about to speed away when his cell phone rang.

"Michael Vaughn," he said somewhat annoyed.

"HI!" came an excited voice.

Michael knew immediately who that was. No one's voice was as annoying as hers.

"Alice, we're over! How many times do you have to hear this?"

"Is there someone else? Because technically, to me, we're not over until there's someone else, and even then I'll try to- -"

"Alice, there is someone else. Her name is Sydney. She is amazing… smart, beautiful, and all around… wonderful. And you know what else?"

"What?" Alice asked angrily.

"I LOVE her."

"Well…well do YOU know what, Michael Vaughn?? "

"No, and truthfully I don't want to."

"I hate you."

"Wow…" he said in amazement. Then whispering he said, "Finally."

"I can't believe you!"

"Alice, I tried to be nice, really I did, but you stalking me …it doesn't work. I'm sorry, but we're over. Quit calling me, quit calling my friends, and don't even try to find Sydney."

"It's America…it's a - -"

"Alice, we're done."

And he hung up.

He sped all the way to headquarters. He ran inside and headed to Devlin's office. He knocked on the door and was acknowledged with a nod.

"Do we have confirmation?" Devlin asked.

"Yes, sir. They have Agent Bristow. We have to leave now," Michael replied urgently.

"Contact Agent Weiss and the other two Agent Bristows. Tell them to get their teams together now. You leave in 15 minutes."

Michael wasted no time. He ran to Eric's room and told him to get his team ready. Then he called Jack and told him the same. Next he sent word to Kat. Finally he got his team together.

This process took ten minutes.

They quickly went over the mission, then got into their designated vehicles. They quickly began to drive away.

Michael was in a very nice blue convertible. He was to pretend to open an account at Credit Dauphine. While he was doing that, Weiss would gas the lobby. When the workers were all knocked out, the teams would move in.

To Michael it seemed like forever before the Credit Dauphine building was in sight. He was speeding, racing to the building that was now in front of his eyes. Slamming on the brakes, he pulled into a parking spot. Then he put on his sunglasses and headed inside hoping it wasn't too late.

Sydney woke up in a cell. She had been in a cell like this before, and she wasn't surprised to be there.

As she sat up and looked around, she spotted Marshall. He was asleep on a cot across from her. He had a black eye, but other than that, he looked okay. She wondered what SD-6 would do to him. Marshall wouldn't even know why he was there. It was his first active day with the CIA and he was already in trouble.

She had no idea what Security Section or Sloane would do, but she did know one thing for sure. Michael Vaughn would come for her.

Michael had just approached the receptionist at the front desk. She began to talk to him about opening an account, and depositing things, but he wasn't listening. His mind was on Sydney. He loved her more than anyone and anything else. His thoughts were put back on the mission when the receptionist handed him a pen and a form to fill out.

"Fill this out please, sir," she said to him.

Michael took the forms and the pen. Then he dropped the pen on the floor. He bent down to pick it up, and began to get into his briefcase. He pulled out a gas mask and put it on. Next he pushed the com in his ear.

"Go ahead Juicy Fruit," he said to Eric.

"Commencing in 5… 4… 3… 2…" Eric counted.

Michael grabbed the pen, then stood up.

"One."

The room instantly filled with gas. After a few minutes, everyone in the room was knocked out.

"SpyDaddy, do you copy?" Michael asked Jack.

"SpyDaddy copies, Doublemint," Jack replied.

"Bubbleliscious, so you copy?" Michael inquired.

"Bubbleliscious ready to kick butt!" Kat exclaimed.

"Juicy Fruit, do you still copy?" Michael questioned.

"Juicy Fruit still copies," spoke Eric.

"Alright, everyone, Operation Takedown is a go."

Jack then entered the building. He went inside SD-6 the same way that he normally would. Kat followed.

Everybody else had to enter a different way. They went the way Cole had. Their tranquilizer guns ready, the headed inside.

As Jack and Kat entered they took off their masks. Very few of the SD-6 agents even bothered to look up. Dixon walked over to Kat, thinking she was Sydney.

"Syd," he said. "Sloane wants to speak with you in his office."

"Oh, okay," Kat replied. "Do you know what he wants?"

"No, but he sounded urgent."

As Kat walked towards Sloane's office, she heard Eric over her com.

"You know, you're codename should have been Bootyliscious instead of Bubbleliscious. Did you see the way Dixon looked at you?" Eric laughed.

"You should have been code named Bubblebum. Oops! I mean Bubbleyum," Kat fiercely said. "I'm going into Sloane's office. Get your head in the game."

"Bubbleliscious are we ready to commence gas?" Michael asked.

"Affirmative, Doublemint."

Kat quickly went into Sloane's office and shut the door. Sloane looked very surprised yet upset at the same time.

"You wanted to see me?"

Marshall sat up confused. He was lying on a cot, in a cell, across from Sydney. He knew she could tell he was confused, but her eyes told him not to say anything.

They sat in silence for about seven minutes, then they heard some footsteps. Two big men with guns came in. One pointed his gun at Marshall, the other one at Sydney.

"Get on your knees," one said. "Heads to the ground."

They quickly obeyed.

"Mr. Sloane has asked us to inform you that we have your friend, Will Tippin," the other man said. "He is being tortured and will be killed if you don't tell us who you're working for."

Marshall was now even more confused. What had happened, that he did not know, but he figured that it must have been done at his house. So Marshall decided that they thought he was involved.

Suddenly the two men picked him up. They took him to a room and he was placed in a chair. Before he could blink the men tightly wrapped huge restraints on him. Then the men left.

Fear quickly took over Marshall. He had no idea what was going on. Then, he heard footsteps. They weren't very loud, but were coming towards him. His fear grew even more.

The man that walked in was somewhat familiar looking. He was the man of mystery. He had been seen around the office, but no one knew what he did or what his name was. And if they did, no on would talk about him.

No matter how hard Marshall tried to pull them away, his eyes remained on that man. The man pulled out a tape recorder and pressed record. Then he began to pull out needles and jars filled with liquids of different colors.

"Um…I know I've been late a lot lately…but…but don't you think this is a… little extreme?" Marshall asked the man.

The man did not reply, but picked up a needle and a jar filled with clear liquid. As he filled the needle with the liquid Marshall cringed. Shots had never been a big deal for him, but he was positive that nothing good would come out of that needle.

Marshall took a deep breath as the needle came near him. He felt the sting of pain as the needle went into his arm. Then he started screaming in pain. Whatever had just been injected into him hurt. The pain was excruciating.

The evil man had a sly smile on his face as Marshall sat screaming and shaking.

"That was a mild truth syrome," the evil man said. "All the pain can stop if you tell me who it is you are working for. Tell me, Marshall. Who do you work for?"

Marshall just sat shaking. They probably thought that he would talk right away, or was too weak to say nothing, but he would prove them wrong. The pain was horrible, but he sat in silence.

"I have to go take care of your friends. I have four more serums among other things, Marshall. Think about how stubborn you're going to be," the evil man's eerie voice said.

Then he left Marshall alone with the pain.

Sloane looked up.

"I thought you were in the conversation room," Sloane said in shock.

"No," Kat replied. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course you can, Sydney. What is it?"

"Well you see, I know this man. He was a CIA agent. Then one day he felt like his superiors had betrayed him. Therefore, he joined an organization that worked against the CIA. He had his own branch of the Alliance of Twelve. He murders innocent people, just because they find out the truth about what he does. He recruits people by deceiving them into believing that they work for the CIA and are fighting against groups like the Alliance, while they really work for them. Those people are going to learn the truth and they are going to learn it today. Then that man will be locked up."

BANG!

Sloane had pulled out his gun and shot her in the chest. Kat, who was taken by surprise, flew backward and fell to the floor.

Will sat tied to a chair. Blood drenched his shirt, and was in a puddle on the floor. They had been torturing him for so long, Will had lost track of the time.

He remembered the last time he had been tortured like this. He was in Taipei, and Sark was responsible. He hated Sark, and now more than ever he hated Sloane.

No one was in the room at the moment. So he tried to escape, but to no avail. Then he heard footsteps coming towards him. Once again, Will prepared for the worst.

Two men with guns had led Sydney to a small room. There were only a few items in that room. The biggest item was a bucket.

The bucket was a good size. It was bigger than her head, and as they got close to it Sydney realized that it was filled with water.

If she wasn't handcuffed she would have tried to get Will and Marshall and get out, but right now that was out of the question.

Sydney was pushed to the ground. One of the men forced her to sit on her knees, then he grabbed her neck. The other man kept his gun pointed at her.

Footsteps were heard. With her eyes, Sydney followed the sound. A familiar looking man walked in. He had almost tortured her before. He had an eerie smile on his face and stood there trying to intimidate her, which he wasn't successfully doing. He walked closer and made eye contact with her.

"We know you work for someone other than SD-6," he said. "Who are you working for?"

Sydney just glared at him.

The man nodded to the guard holding Sydney's neck. The guard began to push Sydney's head to the water filled bucket.

Sydney took a deep breath just before her head was forced into the bucket. She quickly ran out of breath and tried to pull her head up. The guard held her head down inside the bucket. After a few minutes he pulled her head up.

She began to cough uncontrollably. Then she gathered as much air as she could.

The man's eerie smile was still there.

"Tell me," he said. "Who do you work for?"

Sydney sat in silence, the water dripping off her face. She was cold and shivering, but would not talk.

"Keep dunking her until I get back," he told the guards.

The guards nodded. The one holding Sydney's neck pushed her head back into the bucket. Then the man left and went towards another room.

"What was that?" Michael asked Eric.

"It sounded like a gun shot," Eric replied.

Suddenly they heard a thud. Then rapid punches.

"Should we go inside Sloane's office? Or do you think that Kat's okay?" Eric inquired.

"I don't think we can afford for her to not be okay," Michael replied. "Let's go in."

They kicked his office door open. What they saw made them cringe, but also made them very relieved. Kat had Sloane up against the wall and was punching him over and over again.

"Wow," Eric said. "Forget Bubbleliscious! She should be called Bubbleviscous!"

As soon as he said that Kat turned around.

"I'll show YOU Bubbleviscous," Kat replied with her fist ready to punch.

Michael stepped in between them.

"No matter how annoying he is we need him, Kat. You'll just have to ignore him."

Kat sighed.

"HEY!" Eric said. "I'm not annoying!"

"Are you sure we need him?" Kat asked Michael as she gave Eric a glare.

"Yes," Michael said with a nod.

"Yeah," Eric said. "You guys definitely need me."

"SpyDaddy do you copy?" Michael asked through the com.

"When was the last time you heard from him?" Kat asked.

"Almost twenty minutes ago, before he went to get Sydney, Marshall, and Will."

Will stood with Jack in the conversation room. It was Jack's footsteps Will had heard. Jack had just given Will morphine. Then they heard footsteps.

"Up there," Jack said pointing to the air vent.

Will climbed in, then Jack did. Both knew that if they were caught, they would be in serious trouble. Jack had turned off his com, and decided that it was a good time to turn it on.

"SpyDaddy, do you copy?" he heard Michael say.

Jack pressed his com three times in a row.

They heard a man's voice say, "Mr. Tippin, are you ready to- -"

He stopped mid-sentence.

"Sloane is not going to like this," he said angrily. Then he walked out.

Jack turned and whispered to Will. "There is only one door in and out. We'll have to get out through the air vent."

"You came in through the door," Will whispered back.

"I had to take that risk to see if I could find Sydney and Marshall. We have to go through here. That way," Jack said pointing to the right.

So the two crawled through the air vents trying to get to safety.

"That was the signal," Michael said to Kat and Eric.

"The signal?" Eric asked confused.

"Kat, you and I have to go get Sydney and Marshall."

Kat nodded.

"Wait. What about me and that- - thing?" Eric asked pointing to Sloane.

"You get to stay here and baby-sit him," Michael said. "Kat, we have to hurry. Come on."

So Kat and Michael headed to the conversation room, splitting up half way.

Marshall sat, still in pain. The man had been gone for several minutes, and he wasn't complaining, but he wanted to what happened to him.

Suddenly, he walked through a door.

"I have to go talk to Sloane," he told Marshall. "When I come back, you better have an answer. And it better be the right one."

Then he left.

Sydney felt sick. She had just been pulled up from the bucket again and was coughing. They had been dunking her, pulling her up, letting her cough, then doing it over again. This time they pulled her up, waited until she was coughing, then pushed her in again. Sydney's lungs filled with water. She couldn't breathe. A few minutes later, she went limp.

"I forgot to ask," Michael said through his com. "Was that a gun shot Eric and I heard earlier?"

"Yeah, Sloane shot me," Kat replied.

"Are you okay?"

"Bullet proof vests are never a bad idea. I was wearing one. The bullet hit my vest. I'm fine."

"Okay, I think I'm getting close."

"Ditto, Doublemint."

Kat suddenly heard footsteps coming towards her. Out of a door a man she had never seen before walked out. She instantly began to fight him. The man was caught by surprise. He was kicked and went flying in the air. Kat immediately pulled out her tranquilizer gun and fired it at the man. Within seconds he was asleep.

Taking out her handcuffs, she began to get worried. The man had blood on his hands and on his clothes. She quickly put one handcuff on him and the other on a metal handrail next to the stairs. Then she walked through the door that the man had just walked out of.

She began to walk through a small hallway. Then she came to two doors. She looked into one room. It was empty except for a chair. All around the chair there was blood. Kat immediately backed out of the room and entered the next one.

Kat saw him. Marshall was strapped tightly in a chair. He was pale, sweating, and moaning. She stood staring at him, and he looked up at her. He smiled and that relieved Kat a little.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"I got a shot full of a t-truth serum… It hurt- - a lot," Marshall replied as Kat freed him from the chair. "Does Dr. Evil have any morphine?"

"Hold on," Kat replied as she rummaged through "Dr. Evil's" belongings.

She found a jar of liquid and picked it up. She read the label. It was morphine. She pulled out a needle and filled it with the morphine. Then she walked over to Marshall and put the needle in his arm. Marshall winced a little, but got a smile on his face as the morphine kicked in.

"Thank you," he said.

Then he leaned over and kissed him.

"Michael went to find Sydney, my dad went to get Will, Eric is up watching Sloane, and the teams are downloading everything from the computers, and gathering evidence to put Sloane and his colleagues in jail. Dr. Evil is handcuffed to a railing by the stairs. We better go."

So the two lovers headed out to the hallway. When they got to the railing, "Dr. Evil" was gone.

"I thought you said he was here," Marshall said.

"He was."

Michael quietly but quickly searched for Sydney. He had chosen to go down a hallway. He began to hear male voices coming from a room.

Following the sound of the voices, Michael ran down the hallway and turned right. He came to an open door. Leaning over, he looked inside. He saw two guards. He leaned over some more and saw a bucket. Inside the bucket was a person's head. Immediately Michael knew it was Sydney.

He ran in and fought the first guard. When he was on the ground he fought the other guard. After he was down, he ran to the bucket and pulled Sydney out of the bucket.

Her face was pale and she wasn't breathing. As he held her in his arms, tears welled up in his eyes. She looked horrible, yet beautiful at the same time.

Swarmed in his love for her, he didn't notice the guards getting up. They began to walk towards him. They aimed their guns and prepared to fire.

Michael looked up just in time to see their guns pointed at his face.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Will and Jack cautiously climbed out of the air vent. They were in the main office. Jack looked around and noted that everyone was still under the effects of the gas. He pressed his com as he watched the C.I.A. teams download all the SD-6 files.

"Bubbleliscious, do you copy?" he asked.

"I copy, Spy Daddy. I have Marshall and I'm coming upstairs," Kat replied.

"What about you, Doublemint? Do you copy?" Jack asked.

No answer.

"Doublemint, do you copy?!"

Silence.

"Bubbleliscious, get up here, now," Jack said.

"We're on our way."

A few minutes passed, and Kat and Marshall had not made it upstairs. Jack knew he had to leave.

"Will, you stay here. Take this," Jack said as he handed Will his tranquilizer gun.

"Do I really need this?" he asked with a look of concern.

"Would you like me to take it and let you find out?"

"I'll take the gun."

"Good idea. I'll be back."

So Jack left Will and walked down the stairs, then disappeared.

Will stood staring at the SD-6 office. There were men with guns everywhere. Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement. Spinning around with the tranq. gun ready, he noticed that it was only what appeared to be a C.I.A. agent. He was escorting Sloane outside. Will slowly put his gun down.

At first it didn't rouse suspicion, then Will noticed something. He made eye contact with the man, and realized immediately that that man was no C.I.A. agent. It was the man who had just spent countless hours torturing him.

He casually began to walk behind them, seeing where they would go. They went down a set of stairs, opened the wall and walked through it, and into a hallway. The door began to close, but Will stopped it. He waited a few minutes, then went inside.

They had just turned down a hallway, and Will cautiously followed. There was a set of stairs, one going up, the other going down. Sloane and his "escort" went up, so Will went up too. They opened another secret, barely visible door, and went inside it.

Will waited a minute and then followed. To his surprise, they were in a parking garage. Will realized that they would soon try to escape. He raised his gun and aimed at the imposter C.I.A. agent. He fired, and missed.

The man and Sloane both looked up. They started to rapidly fire at Will, no mercy evident on their faces. Quickly taking cover, Will jumped behind a slab of concrete. He prepared himself to die or to kill a man or two, both equally frightening.

With shaking hands, he readied his gun and willed himself to get up. He heard the guns stop firing and then the squealing of tires. Will stood up, aimed his gun and fired. He missed, so he shot several more. The escort was hit, but Sloane took out his gun and fired. The bullet hit his arm, and then Sloane jumped into a van and sped away as Will stood helplessly watching.

The two guards ripped Sydney out of Michael's arms. Their guns still pointing at his head, they slammed him into the wall. Michael winced in pain.

"Who sent you here?" one whispered to him in an eerie voice.

They didn't wait for him to answer. He was slammed into the wall again.

"I said, who sent you here."

Michael still said nothing. He had to get to Sydney before it was too late. He tried to come up with a plan, but he was thrown into the wall again.

The gun was fiercely shoved into Michael's neck.

"Tell us who sent you here, or we will end your life," a guard said.

"And hers," said the other guard.

This made Michael furious. He tried with all his might to get free, but could not. He was slammed into the wall again. Their laughter erupted as he tried to attack them and failed.

"This is your last chance…"

Michael fought the desperate urge to tell them everything to save Sydney's life, but knew he could not. There was still a C.I.A. team upstairs doing official business, and he couldn't just tip the enemy off…but he had to save Sydney.

"Fine, she's going first."

Michael's head was now bleeding from being hit so many times against the wall. He was slammed again. The man not slamming him into the wall walked over to Sydney. He pulled out his gun, and released all the safeties.

BANG!!!

"SYDNEY!!!" Michael screamed.

BANG!!!

Kat and Marshall made it back to the main office. They saw the teams were still busy. Kat found Marshall an empty chair and wheeled him into Sloane's secured office.

She was expecting to see Sloane still handcuffed and Eric fiddling with his yo-yo, but to her surprise, that's not what she found. After looking all around the room, she found Eric handcuffed to a leg of Sloane's desk. He was breathing very heavily, and bleeding from what appeared to be a gunshot wound. Kat walked closer and stepped on something. It was a silencer from a handgun.

Kat immediately ran back to the main office.

"We need a medic in here!" she told the teams. "Now!"

A man approached her with a medic badge on his shirt. She quickly explained the situation as they ran back to Sloane's office. He immediately began to examine Eric.

Will took off his shirt and made it into a sling for his arm. He now had two options, and was uncertain of what he was going to do. He had to get back upstairs and notify a C.I.A. agent of what he found. The man laying at his feet had to get back upstairs as well, but that would mean he'd have to carry him. His arm wasn't in that kind of condition. He couldn't risk Sloane being overly stupid and try to come and save him, so he began to drag the man up the stairs.

Will had Jack's gun, just in case the man woke up. Besides the fact that Jack Bristow scared him, and he had a pretty good idea of what would happen to him if he left it. He refound the "secret door" and began to slowly go up the steps.

The climb was hard, but Will kept going. His arm hurt, and the man he was carrying was fairly heavy. Will kept going, though, stopping only once to fix his "sling".

He was reaching for the door when the man began to wake up. Will didn't notice, and struggled to open the door. The man reached Will's arm and hit it as hard as he could. Will fell back and landed roughly on the top step.

Seeing Will was on the ground, the man got up and began to walk towards him. Will got up, ready to fight. He was kicked several times, but still stood, his arm throbbing. Will waited until the perfect moment, then kicked the man with all his might.

The wind was knocked out of the man, and he fell down the stairs. He cried out in pain when he hit the bottom of the stairs. Will heard a loud crack, sounding much like a gunshot, and knew the man wasn't going anywhere. So, he ran all the way back up the stairs and into the secret door.

Michael felt blood slowly flowing down his neck. The guard's gun was no longer near him, and he heard a little thud behind him.

He didn't feel much pain, except for the pain in his heart. He couldn't believe that Sydney was dead. He just couldn't. Michael sank to the floor, his eyes slowly welling with tears. He refused to look at her; he wouldn't be able to take it. He heard footsteps, but what did he care. Sydney was gone, he had nothing left to live for. Whatever happened to him next happened.

"He needs to leave soon," the medic told Kat. "If he doesn't he could die."

Kat nodded. "What about Marshall?"

From the look Kat received from him she knew whatever it was wasn't good. The medic pulled her aside. In a low, whispery voice he said, "Your friend has been exposed to a combination of serums. The combination itself is painful, but…"

"But what?"

"Did you give him any morphine?"

"Yes, just a few minutes ago…why?"

"Mixing the morphine with the serum combination is life threatening. If he falls asleep for too long, he could die."

Eyes welling with tears, Kat shook her head. "Wh-what can we do?"

"We'll have to get him into a hospital. He'll need to have surgery, to get the serums out. That's all we can do. We'll have to wait until all the files are downloaded, and then they'll be able to—"

"We need to get Marshall and Agent Weiss out of here, NOW."

"We can't just get up and leave we have to have the proper protocol—"

"Forget protocol! Those men could DIE soon, and if they do…I'll personally find you and—"

"Agent Bristow, they can not leave."

Kat glared at him. "If you do not get them out of here in 20 minutes, I swear that with or without proper protocol, they will be leaving with me," she said wanting nothing more than to kick the medic and get Marshall and Weiss out of there and into a hospital. The medic said something else, which Kat chose to ignore, when she heard Will stumble into the room.

He lay on the floor, panting, blood smearing on Sloane's expensive office floor. The medic raced over to him.

"What happened?" the medic asked Will as he checked Will's vitals, and dressed as best as he could the gun wound.

"I found a secret door…Sloane and a man…they went through it…saw me…they hit me…Sloane's gone…but other man…he's down there…"

"Is he secured?" Kat asked.

"He fell down the steps…I heard his leg crack…He's secured."

"Unless Sloane comes back to get him…" the medic mumbled loud enough for all of them to hear.

"Sloane may be stupid, but he's definitely not THAT stupid," Will proclaimed. "He's not coming back."

"Your vitals seem to be fine, Mr. Tippin. Do you think you can walk when the ambulance gets here? I'll have to go through all the necessary protocol," the medic glared at Kat as he spoke, "but then you'll be able to get that bullet out."

"I think I'll be fine…" Will replied.

The medic got out his radio phone, and dialed in to speak to Devlin. The beauty of his phone was that Kat could hear both ends of the conversation.

"Sir, this is Medic Roberts, I'm requesting an okay to get an ambulance here."

"And you're asking me…because?" Devlin questioned.

"Um…well…I thought I had to go through the proper…protocol."

"Are you absolutely insane? Any agents or civilians hurt in an operation like this need to be treated immediately! You can't just let them die! Call the stupid ambulance in!"

"Yes, sir."

"And, Roberts,"

"Yes, sir?"

"Don't waste my time again. That's an order."

And then Devlin hung up.

Kat couldn't help but give Roberts an "I told you so" look. He noticed, but said nothing as he dialed in to get an ambulance.

"This is Roberts. We need several ambulances right away. Location, operation takedown. They're already on their way? Excellent."

Then he hung up.

Kat looked over at Marshall and saw he was sleeping.

"How long has he been like that?" she asked Roberts, who simply shrugged his shoulders, making Kat want to strangle him.

"Marshall?" she said as she gently shook him. "Marshall, wake up. Marshall! Come on… Marshall?!?"

The footsteps Michael heard stopped abruptly.

"Vaughn," he heard Jack say.

Michael tried to turn around, which to his surprise, he could. The guards laid dead at his and Sydney's feet. Sydney was still on the ground, but with no blood on her at all. Jack was kneeling next to Sydney.

"How long has she been like this?" Jack asked,

"I-I'm not sure," was Michael's reply. "She was like that when I got down here."

They began to do C.P.R. on her. Jack doing the series of thrusts and Michael pinching her nose and breathing into her mouth. They did it several times, each time wanting her to get up.

After what seemed like an eternity, Sydney sat straight up. She began to cough almost uncontrollably.

Michael let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding.

"Syd, are you—"

Michael was cut off. Then she kissed him with her cold lips.

"I-I'm fine. Thank you."

"We need to get back upstairs," Jack said. "Do you think you can walk?"

She was cold, shaking, and aching. "I'll b-be fine."

Michael and Jack helped Sydney up. They both immediately noticed her wince in pain. Her legs felt like they were being stabbed repeatedly by knives where the guard had been sitting. Sydney began to fall, but Michael caught her in his arms.

"I'll carry you," he said.

"No, you don't h-have to," Sydney objected. "I'll b-be f-fine."

"No, you won't."

Sydney sighed and turned to her father.

"You're not fine, Sydney," Jack agreed. "Let him carry you."

"Fine," Sydney sighed.

So Michael picked her up and Jack began to lead the way to the main office.

Gunshots went off in the main office of SD-6.

"You idiot!" an angry agent yelled. "I told you to secure all the members of security section!"

"I did!" another agent yelled.

"Evidently you didn't!"

"Shut-up and help me shoot them!"

More gunshots went off. The gas was wearing off of everyone, and several were already awake. The desk trained agents were screaming and taking cover, the security section members were shooting at the C.I.A. agents, and appliances were exploding and sparking. Sheer chaos erupted in seconds.

Kat raced out of Sloane's office, heading to what Marshall would call his "Tech Room". She dodged several bullets, received several stares, and safely made it to Marshall's office. After only a few minutes of searching, she found what she was looking for: Marshall's caffeine pills. She picked up the bottle and ran back into Sloane's office.

She took out one pill and smashed it with a pocketknife. Gathering one fourth of it, she put it in Marshall's mouth, hoping he wouldn't choke. Five minutes passed, and then Marshall woke up.

Kat didn't give him a chance to say a word. She kissed him long and hard.

"Don't do that again…"

"I won't be able to. You did give me a caffeine pill right? It sure tasted like one…I mean I can taste caffeine before it hits my mouth…I love caffeine! CAFFEINE! CAFFEINE! CAFFEINE!"

"Marshall?"

"CAFFEINE! CAFFEINE! CAFFEINE!"

Kat kissed him so he would shut up. Which, to her pleasure, worked…for a minute or two.

"Marshall, I did give you a caffeine pill, but not a whole one…only part of one. That's because…well…Marshall, you have to…you have to have…"

"MORE CAFFEINE!!!"

"NO! Marshall, you could be DEAD in a few hours! You have to go into surgery! THAT is why I gave you only one fourth of the pill…"

"Say what?"

"Marshall, it's my fault…I-I'm sorry. That morphine I gave you…it made the serums toxic...and they…they have to get it out or-or you'll die…and it's all my fault…I'm so sorry…it-it's all my—"

"No it's not. I asked for the morphine."

"Yeah, but…"

Marshall stopped her mid-sentence with a kiss, then he gently wiped away her accumulated tears.

"'Yeah but' nothing. It's not your fault, and anyway, I'll be fine. So no more crying, okay?"

Kat gave up and managed a weak smile. "Alright. Just don't fall asleep, okay?"

Marshall knowing that he now couldn't fall asleep even if he wanted to for at least an hour and agreed that he wouldn't fall asleep, just to put her at ease.

"Look out!" Will yelled as a bullet came flying through the glass door and whirled into Sloane's office.

Everyone got down on the floor. Kat crawled over to the medic, as bullets soared out in the main office.

"Do you have a gun?" she asked.

He looked very surprised. "Nooo…."

"You're hopeless!" she exclaimed. "Absolutely hopeless!"

Will crawled over to them. "I have one."

"Good…you're going out there with me."

"Okay…WAIT! Hold the phone. You want ME to go out THERE and SHOOT people? You have got to be kidding me…"

"I'm not…look, whether you like it or not, they need our help!"

Will just stood there, staring and looking like the biggest baby in the world.

"I knew the minute I heard your voice on the phone that I wouldn't like you. I should've known you would be a coward. Now, I'm going out there, with or without you. Do what you want."

She paused for a few minutes for the impact of what she had just said to slap him in the face, which Kat decided he deserved. Then she grabbed her gun, and went out the door into the middle of the chaos.

Bullets were flying everywhere, Kat saw several CIA agents down, and some she knew others she didn't. Then she spotted the members of Security Section who, fortunately, didn't see her. She fired and hit several men. They retaliated, only one of the many bullets hitting her that left only a scratch.

Kat got on the floor to better protect herself. She was running out of darts, not to mention back up. Behind her she heard footsteps. Her gun readied, she turned and shot, not even seeing the face of the man. Only after he was sound asleep did she realize who she shot: Will Tippin.

Jack, Michael, and Sydney all heard the many gunshots as they neared the door back to the main office. They knew where they were coming from, but had no idea why. The first thing the teams did after using the gas was disarm all the security section members. Jack turned his com back on and so did Michael, hoping to get news from Kat or Weiss.

"Bubbleliscious, do you copy?" Jack asked.

While Jack was talking through his com, Michael turned to Sydney. She was shaking. It was so bad that Michael had to strengthen his hold on her to keep her in his arms. She was pale and had a far away look in her eyes.

"Sydney," Michael said in a soothing voice. "Sydney, are you okay?"

She didn't answer.

Kat's voice came through his ear. "I-I copy, SpyDaddy."

"What's going on up there?" Jack asked.

"Well, somehow Security Section got their grubby paws on their guns and are attacking…I came out to help, but I'm running out of back up and bullets…Marshall…he's…well I might be the cause of his death if he doesn't have an important surgery soon. Weiss was shot, by we think that freaky torture guy when he came to get Sloane, who by the way escaped…Will got shot by Sloane, which I'm sure he'd explain except I just accidentally shot him with my tranq gun…and what do you know… I'm stranded in the middle of a shoot out with no more tranq darts...whoa, hold on!"

As Jack waited he heard several gunshots followed by three very loud ones, that he assumed Kat was firing.

"Okay…I'm back. I had to dodge a few bullets. Yes! I got one down…twenty to go…give or take a few…good thing I carry a spare gun. Oh, and did you or Michael call the police?"

"No…"

"I hear sirens…so I thought maybe you did."

"It must have been one of the Analysts."

"Is Sydney okay?" she asked.

"She's—"

That's when Jack looked over and saw that Sydney was on the floor, Michael standing over her, checking her pulse. She was still shaking from the cold. Just by a glance you would be able to tell she needed immediate medical attention.

"She blacked out a minute ago," Michael explained. "She was mumbling something, but I couldn't understand her."

"Daddy?!" Kat said not worrying about the code names. "Are you okay? Is Sydney all right? Hello?!"

"I'm sorry, Kat. No, she's not doing very well. I'm coming up to help you. I've got a gun and some extra bullets," he told Kat. Then to Michael he said, "Stay here with her and make sure she's alright."

Michael nodded, and then watched as Jack went up the stairs, and out the door, fully prepared to fight till the death.

The almost silent home in Downtown L.A. housed a depressed and angry woman. She was very mad at a certain Michael C. Vaughn. She knew she shouldn't cry over the man who broke her heart, but she couldn't help it. So, her days were consisting mainly of watching movies like Pearl Harbor, A Walk to Remember, The Wedding Planner, and Sweet Home Alabama while stuffing herself with assorted chocolates.

She was on her third discounted box of chocolate hearts, and trying her luck with Lilo and Stitch when the phone rang. Like all the rest of the times the phone rang in the past week, she let the machine pick it up.

"Alice," a distorted voice said. "We know you're home."

Alice jumped a mile. She had no idea who the person on the other end of the phone was, but she did not particularly want to find out at the moment.

"Pick up the phone, Alice. I want to help you."

Hesitantly, Alice picked up the phone and still afraid said, "Who is this? What d-do you want?"

"I want to help you."

"Help me w-with what?"

"I believe we both have our issues with a certain Michael C. Vaughn. Do we not?"

"Well, h-he did break up with me t-the other day…he found a new girl…her name was…"

"Sydney Bristow."

"Who?"

"Sydney Bristow."

"Oh…Okay…Thanks…I guess. What are you suggesting we do? I mean why do you need me?"

"I have a plan, but I will only tell you when I have a guarantee of your cooperation."

"Do I have to kill anyone?"

"Would you like to?"

"Not really…Wait…isn't that a line from a movie trailer?"

"Yes, it was. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No."

"Good. Now, are you willing to help me or not?"

"I don't know…I need to think about this. I'm not sure if I'm physically or emotionally ready for any type of plan. This is a big decision, and I need to think about it. My name is Andrew, by the way. That's all I am able to give you at this time. We'll be in touch. Oh, and Alice?"

"Yes?"

"Somebody's watching."

And with those words, he hung up. All was silent except for the T.V. chatter of Lilo and Stitch, and the beating of her broken heart.

Jack Bristow wasted no time. He had already taken out several members of security section along side of Kat. They soon regained control of SD-6 and called in for another team that arrived in less than 5 minutes.

The ambulances all showed up. Marshall, Eric, Will, and Sydney were all immediately loaded onto stretchers and into the ambulances. The SD-6 workers were all being handcuffed and taken by the C.I.A. agents.

Once they were outside, a very unhappy Jack Bristow had to speak with the police before they would let anyone leave. They wanted all the information about what was going on, which took Jack less than 2 minutes to assure them that that intel was none of there business, and classified intel of the C.I.A.

They okayed the ambulances to go. Jack and Michael were in the same ambulance as Sydney, both wishing she would open her eyes and smile up at them. Kat was sitting in with Marshall, trying to restrain herself from crying. Everything was situated, so the ambulances sped down the streets and drove to the special C.I.A. hospital.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

****

Kat stood pacing in the waiting room. They had been at the hospital for hours, and there was no word on Marshall yet. She was tired, and felt she would explode if news didn't come soon.

Her father was doing the same thing. He was very concerned for Sydney, but equally for Kat. She had been pacing for hours. Another person he was concerned for was Michael. He sat staring into nothing for hours.

The truth was he was thinking about everything he and Sydney had gone through. He thought of all the missions that they both went on; missions that could have easily taken either of their lives. The days where Sydney had cried on his shoulder because of the pressures of her life. Moments that now seemed to be only dreams.

His thoughts were interrupted when a nurse walked up to Jack. By looking at them, Michael couldn't tell if Sydney was going to be okay or if something was wrong. He scooted his chair closer to hear what they were saying.

"Basically, Agent Bristow almost drowned. If you and Agent Vaughn hadn't done CPR as soon as you did, she would most likely be dead by now. We're in the process of checking her blood work to make sure that there weren't any chemicals in the water. Until we know, we'll have to keep her here."

"She's not going to like that," Jack told the nurse.

"Well, maybe you should go talk to her. She's in room 21c, but after you go in, nobody else can."

Jack looked over at Michael. He wanted to see Sydney more then anything, but he also knew Michael would go crazy if he didn't see she was all right. Jack looked back to the nurse, asking if it was possible for Michael to go in to see her too.

"I'm sorry, he can't," she said. "We're not allowed to let anyone else see her until we know about the water."

"I understand."

He looked back to where Michael was sitting. He was gone. Jack smiled with admiration for Michael. Maybe he should give him more credit after all.

"What about the other agents that were brought in? Where are they?" Jack asked, buying Michael more time with Sydney.

Michael instantly transformed into Agent Vaughn. His mission was simple: find room 21c and get in (and preferably out) without being detected. Whether they liked it or not, he was going to see Sydney.

He quickly darted down the hallways. He found room 25c, 24c, 23c and then 25c. Then it was right in front of him. Room 21c. Trying to open the door, he found it was locked.

He searched through everything he had. It seemed like nothing would open that door. He wasn't about to give up. Searching around on the floor resulted in nothing. Then, out of the corner of his eye he spotted a bobby pin. Picking it up, he stuck it in the keyhole and wiggled it around.

The door unlocked, and he opened it and walked in. He was tiptoeing, but Sydney woke up anyway. She smiled at him, but it was obvious she was still weak.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," he replied as he sat down on the edge of her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired."

Michael gently kissed her forehead.

"Where's my dad?" Sydney asked.

"He's on his way. The nurse said that he's the only one who could see you."

She glanced up at him. "Did you sneak in?"

With a guilty smile, he replied, "You could say that."

"Thank you," Sydney smiled.

He gently rubbed her hand. "I love you."

"I love you."

"I know."

Soft footsteps were heard in the hallway. Then came Jack's overly obvious voice.

"So, we're right outside of room 21c?"

"That's my warning," Michael said. "I have to go."

"They're coming in. The nurse will see you. Hide under the bed," Sydney whispered.

As the doorknob was turning, Michael dove under the bed and Sydney pretended to be asleep. Jack and the nurse entered the room.

"You have until 5:45, then you'll have to let her sleep. That gives you about twenty minutes."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, Agent Bristow. I'll be back in twenty minutes." Then with a sympathetic glance to Sydney, she left the room.

"Sydney, are you asleep?" Jack asked.

She slowly opened her eyes. "Hi, Daddy."

"Vaughn, come out from under the bed," Jack ordered.

Michael slowly appeared from under the bed, and with a sheepish smile told them, "I'll leave you two alone. Bye, Syd."

With a quick glance into the hallway and a cheerful wave to Sydney, he left the room.

Alice stood in her kitchen trying to figure out what to have for supper. She didn't feel like cooking, so she decided to order a pizza. Andrew's phone call had left her unsettled, but at least he seemed kind of nice. Alice wondered if maybe she should help him. Michael had been a jerk...

Suffering the battle of what to do, Alice sat on her couch. Just as she had several times before, she sighed. This discussion was important, but she had to make a choice. To decide, she thought about all the things they'd been through. All she could remember was pain and her doing things for him. Not once did she remember him doing anything for her.

"I'm going to help him," she said out-loud. "And Michael Vaughn will get what he deserves."

Outside of Alice's house was a van with several men inside. They were watching Alice: monitoring the bugs they had placed inside her house- both video and audio.

"I'm going to help him. And Michael Vaughn will get what he deserves." They heard her say.

"Contact Mr. Sark. He'll want to know about her cooperation."

The other man nodded and dialed Sark. Their plan was working.

Michael managed to get back to the waiting room without being noticed. That left him to assume one of two things. Either he was very good at his job, or this hospital had very bad security. He preferred to think he was just really good at his job.

He saw Kat was asleep on the two chairs in the waiting room. Upon arrival, they had all changed clothes, and Kat's jean jacket was rested over her long legs. She looked sad; so serious. He took off his own leather jacket and gently placed it over her shoulders. Spy instincts kicking in instantly, her brown eyes opened and looked up at him, alert.

"I'm sorry," Michael said. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

Relief washed over her face. "It's okay. Spy instincts. Can't live with 'em, can't spy without 'em!"

Michael smiled, knowing the feeling and sharing the same thought. "You want something to wake you up? I can go grab you a coffee or something."

"I'll take a hot chocolate, with whipped cream, and extra marshmallows. It's Marshall's favorite, I guess it kind of grew on me."

"One hot chocolate with whipped cream and extra marshmallows coming right up. I'll be right back."

Michael came back with the hot chocolate and sat down next to Kat. "Thanks," she said to him when he handed the Styrofoam cup over to her. "How's she doing?"

"She looks fine," he replied. "but we both know that part of her job is acting. I think she's tired. She was asleep when I came in. I woke her up, too."

Kat smiled. "Is that your hobby—waking people up?"

"No," he replied, "It must be a Bristow thing."

Kat nodded. "Sounds right to me."

"Sydney, you're going to have to stay here overnight," Jack told his daughter.

"Dad, I'm fine. I don't need to stay here," Sydney objected.

"They insisted you stay. They think there may have been some sort of chemical in the water. Sydney, you need to stay--you have to stay."

"How long?" she asked with a sigh.

"They only said tonight, as far as I know. Sydney, are you alright?"

Sydney was holding her head and almost crying in pain. Laying her head back on her pillow, she bit her lip, trying not to scream on pain.

"Sydney? Sydney what's wrong? Sydney!" Jack questioned, concerned.

After a few moments with no answer, Jack ran into the hallway. "We need a doctor in here, now!"

A doctor accompanied by two nurses ran down the hallway and followed Jack into the room. They found her tossing and turning her head, tears now visibly streaming down her face.

"What happened?" the doctor inquired as he tried to help her.

"I-I'm not sure," Jack replied. Then he began to tell him what had taken place only moments before.

A nurse was examining Sydney's blood work. Her eyes grew big and she shook her head at what she saw. Sydney Bristow was defiantly going to have to stay overnight.

Michael stared at Kat in amazement. Shocked at what she had just asked him, 'how long have you loved Sydney?' he began searching for the right words.

"I'm sorry if that's too personal. I shouldn't have asked," Kat said after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"No. No, Kat, it's okay. You can know-you should know. When I first met Sydney, she was in this bozo red wig. At first, I thought she was pretty, but she was also quite mean-but she had just been through a lot, and I understood. As time went on, I loved her more and more. Then I wondered if she felt the same way. She did. After awhile, I now know, but she did. Really, I've loved her since the first time I saw that her hair was brown."

Kat smiled. Hesitantly, she asked him another question. "So, are we going to be planning a double Bristow wedding soon?"

This he blushed at, but didn't act as shocked as before. "That," he said with a sly smile. "you'll just have to wait and see."

Kat began to fake pout a little, but then smiled. She hoped that Michael would ask Sydney to marry him, just as she hoped Marshall would ask her. They sat there for a few minutes, taking in the silence. Then, Jack came running towards them, stopping only a few feet away.

"Kat, Vaughn, come to room 21c, now," he called down to them.

Immediately, they got up and began running down the hallway to room 21c. There were guards there, making sure no one got inside.

"I'm Agent Vaughn," Michael panted, very much out of breath. "We need to get inside."

"Well, I'm afraid that's not possible," one guard told them.

"Why not?" Kat demanded, getting very aggravated.

"We're not authorized to let anyone in," the other guard answered.

From inside came a scream, followed by groans that were clearly coming from Sydney.

"Let us in," Kat growled through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry, we-"

Kat suddenly thrust her palm into the man's nose. He began to scream. "My nose! Ow! I think you broke it! Miller, call for backup!"

Miller, the other guard, took out a radio. Kat kicked him in the stomach, and he fell to the ground writhing in pain. More hospital security came swiftly rushing down the hallway. Michael, who was standing there staring, gave Kat an admiring smile.

"Come on," she pushed open the door.

Jack immediately walked over to them. "We heard screaming out in the hallway, what happened?"

"The guards wouldn't let us in, so Kat had to convince them to," Michael explained.

Jack understood. He nodded toward Sydney. Her skin was very pale and tears were streaming down her face. She appeared to be asleep, although her whole body was shaking. Looking at her like that, seeing someone so strong look so weak, almost made them cry. Sydney was usually so sweet, her strength incredible. The imagine in front of them, in their minds could not be Sydney Bristow.

After a long, awkward silence, Kat spoke up, "W-what's wrong with her?"

"The nurses that were testing her blood work just came in. They found a substance that they can't identify, although they are almost certain that whatever it is was in that water. We're sending it to a nearby CIA testing facility. They'll let us know if they can identify it, and if they know where a solution that will counter-act it is located."

"If-when- they find one," Michael said, "I'm going after it."

"No," Kat corrected. "We're going after it."

Jack nodded. Watching Sydney, they stood for a few minutes listening to her deep, shallow breaths. Then another nurse came in.

"Is Agent K. Bristow in here?" she inquired.

"I'm right here," Kat responded.

"Please come with me. Oh, nice job on the guards out there. Those two are jerks."

"Thanks, I guess," Kat replied to the woman. Then to Michael and her father, she said, "I'll be back soon. Let me know if you hear anything."

Jack nodded, and Kat followed the nurse out of the room.

Marshall sat in his little hospital room. Although he had been asleep for hours, he was still tired. He wondered where Kat was; and if all the other people from SD-6 was okay. Then, he heard footsteps in the hall followed by Kat's voice.

"So, he's gonna be alright?"

"Yes," he heard the nurse reply. "We'll keep him here for a little while longer, just to keep tabs on him. He'll be out of here by tomorrow night. You can go on now."

Marshall smiled as Kat walked in the door. She smiled back, but he could tell something was wrong. Sitting down next to him, she asked, "How's everything with you?"

"I've been better. They put some cold liquidy thing in me…it killed off the other stuff in me. The bad stuff anyways."

"Your medical terms are touching," Kat said with a sad smile.

There was an awkward silence, then Marshall, decided to ask her what was wrong.

"What do you mean?" She asked back, hoping he couldn't see through her.

He knew her better then that. "Kat, you know what I mean. You're obviously upset about something. What is it?"

"I don't want to upset you…"

"Kat, tell me. I want to know."

So, she hesitantly told him what was happening with Sydney. Marshall just stared at her. He was searching for something to say, words he could not find.

"Kat, I don't know what to say," he honestly confessed.

"Me either," she replied as the tears began to fall. "I wanted a sister my whole life, Marshall. My whole life. Now, I have one and I might lose her before I really get to know her."

At this point, the tears overcame her. Laying her head down on the bed, she sobbed as Marshall gently ran his fingers through her hair, looking for some way to comfort her and make all this okay.

The CIA testing facility began immediately on identifying the substance found in the water. Every agent that could be spared was working on this. Despite his associates' advisories, they out an agent named Andy on the case as well.

He was ecstatic (mainly because nobody had assigned him to anything besides getting other agents their daily decaf). All he wanted was a chance, which was something they didn't want to risk doing. As soon as he found out he had received an assignment, a real assignment, he got to work.

No one knew, but he had several resources. He was on several chat rooms, forums, he even had IM. His favorite e-pal, Rina was her name, sent him all the info he needed, whenever he needed it. He decided to send her a e-mail now, and see what she knew. It read:

[I]To: 

From: 

Rina,

Today, I got my first real assignment. This one is major. One of our agents was exposed to an unknown substance. I thought maybe you could help. E-mail me back as soon as you can.

Andy[/I]

Then he sent it, eagerly waiting to receive a reply.

In a beautiful, secluded house in Fleury, France, a woman checked her e-mail.

She had CIA contacts, none of them really knowing who she was. One of them, she knew as Andy, had e-mailed her. She opened it. The message sounded urgent, so she replied, telling him to get on IM.

[color=blue]Rina47: What is this agent's name?[/color]

[color=red]gohunter: um…Bristow, Sydney A. Why?[/color]

[color=blue]rina47: are you sure???[/color]

[color=red]gohunter: yes[/color]

[color=blue]rina47: I'll help you.[/color]

[color=red]gohunter: good. Thanx. I e-mailed you a description[/color]

[color=blue]rina47: I know…[/color]

[color=red]gohunter: do you know what it is? [/color]

[color=blue]rina47: it's called BMTL[/color]

[color=red]gohunter: is there an antidote?[/color]

Jack raced to find Kat. An agent at the testing facility had found an antidote. They hadn't told him how they found where it was, but at this point, he didn't really care. Manila envelope in hand, he raced inside Marshall's room. Both Marshall and Kat looked up as he entered.

"What is it?" Kat immediately asked.

"They found an antidote."

"Where?"

"Normandy. It's in a department store. All the intel is in here. You and Vaughn have to go now. There's a plane waiting."

Kat nodded, gave Marshall a kiss, then walked out of the room beside her father. Right before walking out, as if to signify his gratitude and gladness of him being okay, Jack nodded at Marshall- a hint of a smile and a wave to go with it.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Michael asked Kat through a closed door on an airplane. "You don't have to do this."

"Of course I'm sure," she replied.

"Who knows what will happen…"

"I'll be ready."

"But what if you're not?"

Kat stopped abruptly. He had a point. What if she wasn't ready? What would that do to their mission? Then her thoughts drifted back to Sydney. She had to do this for Sydney.

"Not being ready isn't an option."

She then opened the door, and walked out in a flowy, baby blue dress with long, drooping sleeves. "What about you, Mr. Delorme?" she asked in her nearly perfect French accent. "Are you ready?"

"Let's go darling," was his perfectly accented reply. "Here, My Love, your necklace."

"Aw, how sweet of you. 'Adrianna and Michael Delorme Forever'. It's beautiful."

The necklace was Kat's audio recorder. It would record over seven hours of audio footage. Michael's gold plated watch would record video footage when he pushed a side button. The plane was two minutes away from landing, and their mission would begin: both agents set on coming back with the antidote—no matter what.

Jack sat holding Sydney's hand. She had been asleep for hours, and Jack had been next to her every minute. She looked so sick it broke what was left of his already shattered heart. His eyes were glazed with tears; his chin was quivering. Still his gaze remained on Sydney. He wouldn't remove his eyes from her.

Her repeated tossing and turning made him uneasy, and her deep, jagged breath was just one of the indicators of how sick she really was. If something happened to Michael and Kat, it would take even longer to get the antidote. There was no telling how long Sydney could last like this. She was strong, but not even a Bristow could stop time.

"Sydney," Jack whispered with quivering lips and an escaped tear. "Promise me you'll stay with me. That you'll hold on. Please. "

He then broke down, as Sydney slowly and painfully lifted her eyelids. She squeezed his hand. Her silent "I promise" instantly clung to him. She looked at Jack as she did when she was sick as a little girl. Gathering every breath she had, she spoke.

"I love you, Daddy," came her whispered words.

The she shut her eyes, and stopped breathing.

Michael escorted Kat into a large hotel. They were going to meet someone there, who would then help them get the antidote from the department store. They received their key and went up to their suite—number 15.

They left all their tech, which was secretly hidden in their suitcases, in their room and went down to the café to wait for their contact.

The café was beautiful. They found the table they were supposed to sit at, and waited. After an hour and a piece of chocolate cake, with no sign of their contact, Kat decided to go "freshen up" (and plant a few bugs in the halls on her way…) in the bathroom.

Kat reached the bathroom after planting both video and audio bugs. She opened the door of a stall and almost threw up at what she saw. Blood- lots and lots of blood- was everywhere. The blood spelled out a word on the wall. There were 8 stalls, so Kat acted fast.

Quickly she opened the first stall. There was a word there too. It read 'Sorry'. Then she opened the second: 'to'. After seeing two words in blood, Kat knew that was a message for her. After opening five of the doors, the message read: 'Sorry to take your contact.'

Kat took a deep breath and then opened two more. The last door was the only one she hadn't opened yet. She opened it and walked inside. There was the most blood in here than in any of the other stalls, a word, and a body. There was blood all over the woman's body. Now it made sense and now it was even more serious. The message read: 'Sorry to take your contact. See you soon.'

She checked the lady's pulse and didn't find a beat as she had expected. After checking for anything that could help her and Michael and finding nothing, Kat slowly backed out of the stall. She ran into someone. Very quickly she turned around as a very strong man put his arms around her. He tried to pick her up, but luckily she was wearing a purse complete with perfume and a large can of pepper spray. She pulled out the pepper spray and sprayed it into the man's eyes. He let go of her to relieve the pain and Kat ran out the door.

As she ran back to the table she realized that Michael was gone.

"Excuse me," she said politely to a waiter. "Have you seen my husband?"

"No," answered the waiter. "But I have seen your partner. Michael Vaughn, I believe is his name."

Kat didn't even have time to blink. The waiter pulled out a gun, and slammed it down on her head, knocking her unconscious.

"You got your intel [I]WHERE[/I]?" Jack angrily yelled at a scared Andy Hunter.

"Off of my AIM friend…You know, AOL instant messenger?" Andy replied.

"Agent Hunter, I am very aware of what AIM means. What I am wondering is if you know that I've just sent my daughter and Agent Vaughn to France to get an antidote that might not even exist; while my other daughter can only breathe because she has an oxygen mask on and her survival depends on the antidote that [u] you [/u] claimed to know where it was."

"I'm sorry, Sir…Agent Bristow. It's just that Rina has never given my faulty intel…She's reliable. I promise."

"What?"

"I said Rina's never given me faulty intel."

"What's her e-mail address?"

" It's Why?"

"Add a 'baldi' to 'ram' and add 'I' to 'rina' and you get Rambaldi Irina."

"Who's Irina?"

"A dangerous, ex-KGB agent who, under false pretenses, used the cover name Laura and became my wife."

"Oh."

"That means that Agent Vaughn and Kat are going to run into trouble. And you, Agent Hunter, you should be grateful that I have more important things on my mind than you. If I didn't have Sydney to look after, than you'd have found [u][I] your[/u] [/I] trouble by now."

With those threatening words, Jack went back to sit with Sydney and call Kat, and Andy got as far away as he could from Jack.

[I] BRING, BRING! BRING, BRING![/I]

Alice ran and answered the phone.

"Hello," she said.

"Have you made your decision yet?" Andrew's distorted voice said.

"Yes," Alice replied. "I will help you. What do I have to do?"

"Go to the C.I.A.'s special hospital. You will pose as a nurse. Sydney Bristow is there in room 21c. You have to damage her oxygen mask."

"You- you mean I have to kill her…"

"Alice, she is a very evil woman. She deserves to die."

"She deserves to die…" Alice repeated.

"I'll fax you what you need to know. As soon as you read it, you should go. I'll contact you in three hours."

Andrew hung up. Alice was left alone to wait on the fax. Less than two minutes later, the fax machine printed out two pages of information that Alice would need.

"Sydney Bristow better watch out," Alice said to herself with a sly smile. :sly:

Michael couldn't see anything. He could feel that he was tied to something, but he didn't know what. He didn't know where he was or who had captured him. Kat's whereabouts were just as much of a mystery.

He knew he had to get out of where ever he was. The question was: How?

Kat moaned as the pain of the bump on her head washed over her. She opened her eyes and recognized all too well were she was. She had been there several times a week when she was a little girl. This was Alexander Khasinou's house.

She was tied to a rather uncomfortable chair that she recognized as one that she had sat in when she got in trouble when she was small. To her surprise, his house hadn't changed a bit. She sat thinking of ways to get out of the chair, and ultimately the house. It couldn't be too hard; she had snuck out of here several times before when her mother and Khasinou had to talk about business, which she later learned was assassinating people.

Footsteps were approaching her. Kat decided to go for the 'I'm sorry' approach. Khasinou walked in, followed by a younger man she had never seen before. Both men eyed her suspiciously, not seeming to know who she was.

"Who are you?" Khasinou asked her.

"I am extremely disappointed in you, Mr. Casserole," Kat replied. "How can you not remember me?"

His mouth dropped clear down to his toes. "Katarina? Katarina Olana? How—Where?"

"I guess I've got some explaining to do."

"Yes, that would be nice."

Khasinou helped her out of the chair. Then they walked down the hallway as Kat falsely explained how she ran away to find her family, but couldn't find them and how she met Michael. She called him her boyfriend, which neither man questioned.

"But why are you here?" Khasinou asked.

"I'll pay you the courtesy of telling you, but where is Michael?

Alice made it inside the hospital without suspicion. She waited until Jack got out of Sydney's room to go to the bathroom before she went in.

She felt guilty for what she was about to do, but then she remembered what Andrew had said. Sydney deserved this. So, she started to mess with the oxygen mask.

Sydney opened her eyes and saw Alice messing with her vital machines.

"Alice?" she managed to say.

Alice jumped. She was very scared. She quickly yanked the mask off and threw it on the floor. Then she poked holes in the tube so they couldn't just put the mask back on her. With her oxygen cut off, Sydney began to suffocate. Still scared, Alice ran out of the room.

A blinding light filled the room. Michael felt dizzy, and was certain that he looked like it too. He was expecting an interrogator, but instead saw Kat come running down the stairs, followed by Khasinou and who he correctly assumed to be one of his minions.

Khasinou unlocked the chains that were tying him to what he now knew to be a chair. Kat then helped him stand and hugged him.

"Listen closely," she whispered in his ear. "You can call me Katarina now. You're my boyfriend. Play along."

Then she gave him a big kiss. Turning every shade of red she said, "Michael, are you alright? I was so worried."

"Yes, I think so," he replied in shock. "Where are we?"

"Remember when I told you about my mother's friend, Mr. Khasinou?"

"Ah, yes. Whom you used to call, Mr. Casserole?"

Kat nodded in amazement. She had never told him about that. She had never told anyone about that. "This is him. We're at his house."

Michael extended his arm, and Khasinou shook it. They exchanged "Nice to meet you" 's Then Khasinou spoke again.

"Come," he said. "You must be starving. You should eat with me."

"Are you sure?" Kat asked him. "We wouldn't want to be nuisances."

"I insist," he replied.

So the four of them went upstairs to the dining room.

"Franz," Khasinou told the other man. "Please go get Katarina Olana and her friend here something to drink. Wine, perhaps?"

"Actually, water will be fine." Kat said before Franz could leave.

"Water for me, too," Michael said. "That is if it's not too much trouble."

"No. That will be fine. Cheaper, really," Khasinou laughed with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Franz brought back their water and Khasinou a glass of wine. After taking a sip, he spoke.

"Now, Katarina, I gave you your man back," he said with a smile. "Would you please tell me why you are here trying to find an antidote that your mother has to a rare substance?"

Kat was shocked. Her mother had the antidote to what might kill Sydney. For a moment, she didn't speak.

"Katarina?" Khasinou asked, clearly concerned.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Actually I'm here because of my mother. I saw how foolish I was in running away, and I decided to come back. I knew Mom wouldn't stay in our old house, so I thought I could find someone who knew where she was, or where the antidote was, I could apologize," she falsely explained, "and introduce her to Michael." Kat leaned over and kissed him and he (just to keep up their act) kissed her back.

Khasinou sat smiling as their food was brought out. "I see," he began. "Well, Katarina, I believe I can help you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. After the two of you eat, I'll have Franz escort you two over to your mother's cottage."

"I'd really appreciate it."

"I bet you would."

Kat eyed him suspiciously. What did that mean? Was he on to them? Kat began to feel dizzy; her eye-lids grew heavy. She looked at Michael only to find him struggling to remain awake as well. As she watched, his head dropped into his plate filled of food. Before Kat's head hit the table, she managed to push her plate away. Khasinou's smile was the last thing she saw as he watched her hit the table.

Franz walked over to Khasinou. "That was easy," he said. "Are you sure those two are really enemies?"

"Franz, my son, I am positive. Now, let's take them over to Irina as planed."

"Yes, sir."

So Franz drug Michael out into the limousine parked out front and ties his hands and feet, covered his eyes with a cloth and put duct tape around his mouth. Then, he got into the driver's seat and turned the limo on. A few minutes later, Khasinou arrived with Kat. She was light enough for him to carry without dragging her, so he did. After putting her in the backseat with Michael, tying her with the same restraints and closing and locking the back doors, he climbed into the passenger's seat next to Franz and nodded. They drove away in the direction of Irina's cottage.

Jack walked back into Sydney's room. She was all alone and when he looked closer, he noticed she wasn't breathing and her oxygen mask was on the floor beside the bed. He quickly picked it up and placed it back on her. Then he noticed the holes in the tube.

The heartbeat monitor was showing how fast her heartbeat was dropping. He had to get a doctor.

Jack quickly went into the hallway. There was only one nurse out there.

"Hey, you!" he called to her.

Alice turned around, saw who it was, and began to run.

"Oh, no you don't," Jack said more to himself than to her.

He started to chase after her. Quickly, he caught up, and pinned her down on the floor. Alice struggled to get away, but could not.

"What did you do to my daughter's oxygen?" he accusingly asked.

"I- I don't know what you're talking about," Alice replied.

"Then why did you run?"

Alice didn't know what to say to that. Andrew didn't mention anything about being pinned down by Sydney's father. He also didn't mention that he had such a good grip.

"That's what I thought," Jack said interrupting her thoughts. "Get up."

"What?" Alice asked still wondering what to do.

"Get up."

She hesitantly stood to her feet, just in time to see Jack's gun to go driving into her head. She toppled over, as Jack had intended her to, onto the floor.

He was putting handcuffs on her when he heard someone walk up to them. Jack looked up to see Sark pointing a gun at his head. Sark was shaking his head at what he saw.

"Jack Bristow," he said with disgust. "I should have known you'd try to mess up my plans."

Jack glared his famous "Bristow-glare" at him and remained silent.

"All I wanted to do was kill your daughter faster. Is that such a crime?" Sark asked with a sly twinkle in his eye.

Jack's glare was even harder now. Harder than anyone (including Marshall) had ever seen.

"Well technically," he continued noting the change in Jack's glare. "It is a crime. But that's why I enjoy it so much. It's like illegal things are drawn to me. Now, Jack, I would [I] love[/I] to stay and watch Sydney die, but I'm afraid the schedule won't allow that. If you'd be so kind as to hand my quite attractive accomplice over, than I'd be much obliged."

"And why should I do that?" Jack asked stubbornly through his clenched teeth,

"I have two reasons. One: I have a gun pointed at your head. Two: I have a man in a room with another of your hurt agents. Now, I know for a fact that he is of value to you because your other daughter is in love with him. Which is besides the fact that he has a photographic memory. Isn't it? If you don't hand her over," Sark said pointing at Alice. "Then he will die as well as you, leaving little Katarina all [I] alone[/I]. Take a look."

Sark showed him a hand-held monitor. Sark's man was in Marshall's room. There was a gun held to his head, but he didn't know because he was fast asleep with his teddy bear, Que. Which was good news for Marshall because if he knew what was going on, he would freak out and try to talk his way out of it, and let's face it talking isn't Marshall's strong suit. But the guard might shoot himself if he was in there too long with Marshall…no, it's a good thing Marshall was asleep.

"Take her," Jack said as he undid the handcuffs. "Get your man out of there. NOW."

"Good choice, Jack. Very good choice," Sark replied with a grin as he took Alice in his arms. Then to his man in Marshall's room he said, "Meet me at the extraction point."

Jack watched silently as Sark began to slowly walk away. He was almost around the corner when he turned around.

"Jack," he said. "You might want to go see Sydney. One can only go so long without oxygen."

Wanting more than ever to kill Sark, but knowing he was right, Jack ran back into Sydney's room to call for help.

Michael woke up with mashed potatoes on his face. He was on a rather comfy mattress, in a nice room. A [I]really[/I] nice room. He walked to the door and tried to get out, but it was locked.

He heard noises coming from the closet. He went up to it and found a door to a secret passage way. He opened it and saw Kat come crawling through.

"Kat?" he asked surprised to see her crawling around in closets.

"No, I'm the Easter Bunny. Of course it's me!" Kat replied.

"Where are we?" he asked as he licked a little bit of the mashed potatoes of his face.

Kat bit her lip. "Well, there's good news and bad news. Khasinou didn't believe us, which is why you've got mashed potatoes all over your face."

"What's the good news?" he asked.

"We're at my mom's house."

"No really, what's the good news?"

Kat looked down. "That [I]was[/I] the good news."

"How is [I]that[/I] good news?"

"Although she moved, she never [I]really[/I] moved."

Seeing Michael's confused look she explained.

"This new cottage was built exactly like my favorite level f her old house. Complete with [I]all[/I] the secret passages. I know how to get us out of here without using doors."

Creaking of wood was heard outside the door, along with footsteps.

"That's gotta be your mom," Michael whispered.

Kat turned very pale and a tear slid down her face as a key jingled in the door.

Michael saw how upset she was, and could somewhat imagine what she was going through.

"Get out of here," he whispered to her.

"I can't do that to you. She killed your father," she whispered back.

"I'll be fine. Go."

Hesitantly she went back into the closet and disappeared as Irina came in. He was initially shocked at her friendly yet intimidating appearance. What shocked him more was what she asked him.

"Do you love Sydney?"

"What?" Michael asked shocked.

"Do you love Sydney Anne Bristow?"

"Yes."

"Then come with me."

"Wait."

Irina turned around. "We don't have much time. What is it?"

"I need you to give me an honest answer. Do [I]you[/I] love Kat?"

Michael was surprised to see tears forming in her eyes.

"Yes; yes I do."

"Then why did you try to kill her?"

"Mr. Vaughn, you have to understand something," Irina began tears coming down her face in a steady stream. "I took care of Katarina as best I could when she was little. I couldn't get too close to her…in-in case something ever happened to me. When I told her the truth, I knew she'd want to leave; to go find Jack and Sydney. I knew she'd be safer there, Jack always was very protective, but then word got out that I'd just let her go. I was considered unloyal. So, to safe her life and mine, I sent out word to the CIA that I was going to kill her, which was never true. My superiors were told she was dead, and we were both safe."

There was silence for a minute, and then she continued.

"If there had been any other way, and I mean [I]any[/I] other way to keep us safe, I would have done it. I know you have no reason to believe me, especially since I- because of what happened to your father, but please do."

She then wiped her eyes and looked to the ground. After she had composed herself, she looked up. Michael was looking past her, so she turned around. Kat was standing there, tears on her face. Both women just stood staring. Finally after several minutes of awkward silence, Kat spoke.

"Was all of that true?" she whispered.

Irina nodded.

"I've thought for years that you hated me."

Irina didn't know how to respond.

"Come on," she said after a few silent minutes. "I'll get you the antidote you came for."

Michael opened the door and walked into the hall. Irina followed and then came Kat. Irina took lead in the hallway, taking them to her room. She pulled a few levers and a hidden door opened. Irina began to walk down a flight of stairs, when she looked back.

"Are you coming?" she asked.

"I'm gonna stay here," Kat replied.

"I'll go down," Michael replied giving Kat a glance at his watch.

Irina and Michael then headed downstairs as Kat pulled out her cell phone. She saw she had missed two messages: both were from her father.

"Message One," the computer-like voice said before playing the message.

"Kat, your mother has the antidote. Be careful and call me as soon as you can."

"Message Two."

"Kat, Sark was here. He had someone pose as a nurse and come in to kill Sydney. They messed with her oxygen. The doctors, they're trying to stabilizer her. I'll call you back soon."

"End of messages."

The doctors were rushing everywhere. They were all trying to stabilize Sydney. They had given her a new oxygen mask, but it wasn't helping. Her heart rate was fluctuating by the minute. Everyone knew they had to do something fast or she would die.

Michael and Irina upstairs a minute later. Michael had the antidote in his hand.

"We have to hurry," Kat told them. "Sark tried to kill Sydney. He had someone take her off her oxygen mask and then they punctured it so Dad wouldn't be able to put it back on. The doctors are doing everything they can, but that might not be enough."

"We'll leave now," Michael immediately said.

"We appreciate your help," Kat told her mother.

"If you ever need me…I'll find you," Irina replied. "The back door's over there. Take one of my planes."

Sydney's heartbeat began to fall faster every second.

Michael and Kat turned to leave but were hit on their heads. They both hit the ground.

"I'm sorry," Irina told them as they were on the ground.

She pulled out a piece of paper and explained how to correctly use the antidote. She gently slid the paper into Kat's pocket, gently running her fingers through Kat's brown hair as she did when Kat was little. Then she took them out to one of her planes, set it on auto-pilot and let it fly them to L.A.

"Come on Bristow. Stay with us," one of the doctors said.

"Alright, everyone," said another. "Clear!"

Sydney's condition improved for a moment, and then went back down.

"Clear!"

"Ouch," Kat said as she gently massaged the bump on her head. "Is there a record for how many times you've been knocked out from a bump on the head in less than half a day?"

"I don't know," Michael replied as he to rubbed the bump on his head.

"If there is I think I beat it."

"Kat, can I ask you something?"

"Of course. Ask away."

"Do you believe what your mother told you back there? Her reason for trying to kill you?"

There was silence for a minute.

"No. No, I don't believe it. I have no reason to believe a word she says unless it involves killing someone. What about you?"

"She seemed sincere. But, that in mind, she's also a spy. Spies are good at acting, so she could be lying or telling the truth, and we wouldn't be able to tell the difference. So, in all honesty, I don't know."

"Come on, Bristow. Come on."

"Clear!"

Nothing happened.

"We're almost to L.A. About twenty minutes from landing so, you should probably call your dad."

"Yeah, okay. Hand me my phone?"

"Clear!"

The heart monitor began to scream a long, shrill beep. Sydney's heart stopped beating.

Every medics face was looking sad and tired. Each knew what a great agent she was, and how heart shattering it would be to tell her father that she was dead. One melancholy doctor looked at his watch.

"Time of death: 4:54 p.m."

Kat was surprised to find that it took ten rings for her father to answer his cell phone. Kat immediately knew that something was wrong when she heard his far-off, saddened "Bristow" as his greeting.

Michael sat across from Kat watching her. He wanted so badly to know what was going on. A tear went sliding down the side of Kat's check, making him even more curious. Whatever it was that had happened, he knew it wasn't good.

"No, I'll tell him," she finally spoke. "We can talk about that later, Dad. Yeah. I will. We'll be there in about twenty minutes. I love you."

Kat hung up the phone and then threw it into the side of the plane. Though she tried her best to be strong, she began to cry into her hands. She allowed the tears to flow freely, although they probably would flow just as much if she tried to stop them.

Michael noticed this immediately and got up and sat down next to her.

"Kat, what did he say?" Michael asked very concerned. "What happened? Is it Syd? Is she okay?"

Kat slowly lifted her head from her hands and hoarsely whispered, "She's dead."


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own the ALIAS characters, Steak 'n' Shake, Evanescence's or ZOËgirl's songs, or Boy Meets World.

Chapter 16

Shock had overtaken the now melancholy hospital. No one had expected Sydney to die, especially those closest to her.

Michael and Kat had arrived at the hospital, both exhausted by the day's events, specifically Sydney's unexpected death. When they saw Jack, they grew even more upset. The man who was usually so strong, so unemotional was now crying into his hands.

The doctors kept Sydney's dead body in her room for a while, letting the people there go see her. They went in one at a time. The first was Will, who was well enough to go in unattended. Next would be Kat, then Michael, then Marshall, and then Jack.

Kat and Marshall sat next to each other, both having tears in their eyes. They sat in silence for a long time until Michael spoke.

"This is all my fault," he sighed. "If I had gotten here sooner..."

"Michael C. Vaughn!" Kat exclaimed impatiently slightly surprising Michael. "What happened was [b]not[/b] your fault. If anyone were to blame, it would be Sark and whoever else helped him. Okay?"

Michael gloomily surrendered, knowing that she would not give up until he signified his agreement. So, he nodded.

"What is that paper in your pocket?" he asked trying to change the subject.

"What are you talking about? I don't have anything in my pocket," Kat mumbled.

She subconsciously reached into her pocket and pulled out a note.

"Okay, so there [I]was[/I] something in my pocket."

Michael saw Will walk out of Sydney's room wiping tears from his eyes. Then he walked over to Jack and whispered something to him. After he got Jack's reply, he started to move towards Kat and Michael.

"Will's out," Michael told Kat. "You should go."

"Do me a favor?" she absent-mindedly queried. "You go first."

"Okay, just tell Will that when he gets over here."

Will came over as Michael got up and left.

"Next," he softly and un-humorously stated.

"Michael's going first," she affirmed still looking at the note.

"Oh, okay."

"Will," she asserted her eyes now off the note in front of her. "I'm sorry."

"About what?" he questioned truly surprised.

"About calling you a coward. Oh, and also shooting you with a tranq. gun."

"You were under a lot of stress. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

"Okay. Um…Will, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"If I were to tell you that, [I]"Death can be faked, and so can life. But faking [b]this[/b] death will cause you much strife[/I], what would you think that it meant?"

"Read it again?"

Kat did. Will thought about it, and then he spoke.

"I'd say that it means that someone can fake death and life, and some peoples are faked by force...why?"

"I was just--just wondering."

Michael sat next to Sydney. He was holding a velvet black box in his trembling hand.

"Syd," he whispered. "You meant--mean the world to me. You were supposed to get some of the antidote that Kat and I went to get. But we--we didn't make it in time. I'm so sorry, Syd. I'm so sorry."

Several silent tears slowly danced down his cheeks.

"I- I was going to give you this at a dinner after you had recovered. Everything was going to be perfect. I was going to get down on my knee and tell you how much I love you. I was going to marry you, Syd. I have never loved [I]anyone[/I] the way that I love you. You said soon after we worked together that I was your guardian angel. Syd [b]you[b] were [i]my[/i] guardian angel. You are the angel."

He wiped away a few tears.

"Why? Why did you have to leave me, Syd? I love you."

And for the first time in his life, he broke down and cried.

Alice slowly and painfully opened her eyes. She was in a room she had never seen. Towering above her was a man who she did not know. He had somewhat dirty blonde hair, and was wearing a leather jacket. He smiled softly at her, and Alice fell in love. To her, this was one of the cutest guys she had ever seen in real life. He was second only to Michael Vaughn, who, no matter what, would always be much cuter.

She let her thoughts drift back to Michael. Then to Sydney, whom as far as she knew, she had killed. Next, her thoughts went to the stranger in front of her.

"Who are you?" she investigated politely with a questioning look.

"I am Andrew," he stately somewhat proudly with a noticeable accent. "However, you may call me Sark, Alice. Everyone else does."

"You-you're the one who's been calling me?"

"Yes."

"Well….where are we? What happened back at the hospital?"

"We are in Moscow. When I found you, Jack Bristow had you in handcuffs. You were unconscious. So, I traded you for an associate of his, a "tech guy" if you will. He accepted and I brought you here."

'Here' was a very nice place. Even though it was so far away from her home, she could still get used to it.

"Did- did I do my job?" she hesitantly questioned.

Sark nodded with a satisfied smile. "What I wanted has been accomplished. We just have to wait for our next move."

Alice loved the 'our next move'. She also loved Sark's smile, his accent, his leather jacket, and she loved his. Sark…such a unique name. Yes, if anyone could get used to it, Alice could and decided she would.

"Come, we will eat something and then I will fill you in on our next steps and what they will lead up to. Is that alright?"

Alice immediately nodded, not wanting to disappoint Sark. Not now; not ever.

"Follow me, then," he replied as he silently led Alice downstairs to eat and talk about what was to happen to the Bristows next.

Kat sat next to Sydney. While gazing at her she decided that she was just as radient, even in the state she was in.

"Syd, you haven't known me for very long. I just wanted to let you know that I consider you my best friend--ever," Kat said as she filled a syringe with liquid that she had been hiding in a small bottle in her pocket. "And that I love you. And that you're the best sister in the world--my favorite, even though technically you're the only one I've got."

She rubbed Sydney's arm to clean it off. Then she slowly injected the needle into her soft skin.

"All I have left to say is that I hope this works."

Then Kat gently kissed her forehead and walked out of the room.

The plane Kat and Michael had been on was back in the air. When Irina had put them on the plane, there was a significance to the autopilot button. There were two little men who were hiding that actually flew the plane. Irina commonly called them the "autopilot".

Their phone rang, and one of the autopilots answered it.

"Hello, Autopilot here," he said into the speaker phone.

"Did you do what you were told?" Irina's voice asked them.

"Yep, I did. Audio bug on the girl and we flew her and Mr. Potato Head to Los Angeles as you said." "Excellent. Where are you now?"

"Um…we're over the ocean. We'll be arriving shortly."

"Alright. One more thing. I need you to send the audio files to me as soon as possible. I want to hear this now."

"Will do."

"And Autopilot, stay out of trouble."

"Yes Ma'am!"

Marshall, despite the objection from the doctors, went to go see Sydney. He was put in a wheelchair; then he was wheeled into Sydney's room. At his request, the nurses left him alone, with the exception of Sydney and his teddy bear.

"Hi, Syd…it's me…Marshall. I'm not sure if you can hear me…but oh, well. I thought I'd talk to you about Kat. I don't have it with me, but, well, I--I bought her a ring…if ya know what I mean. I'm not gonna give it to her now; this is a hospital…not to romantic, but as soon as I'm out of here and we can have a nice dinner, I'm popping the question. Not [I]a[/I] question, [I]the[/I] question," Marshall whispered.

Marshall stopped to reflect on all the times he had with Kat. Of course she went by "Suzie" then, but she was still the same person. He looked out the window.

"Wow. Boy do you got a view," he said. "Mine doesn't have an outside view like yours does. You lucky…well, you're just lucky, because you're not a bum or a dog…you're just Sydney."

He was about to say more when he saw movement. It was Sydney's hand.

"Boy, Marshall, you sure need to get more sleep," he nervously chuckled.

He sat watching her hand, waiting to see if it would move again. Without blinking, he just stared at it. It moved again, and Marshall started screaming, not caring that it sounded more like a little girl's shriek then a man's scream.

He instantly rolled his wheelchair over to the door and frantically tried to open it. He finally got it opened, but it hit his wheelchair and closed. He did that again and again. Looking back at Sydney, he noticed her head moving.

"KAT!" He screamed. "HELP!"

Kat was instantly on the other side of the door and she flung it open. It hit Marshall's wheelchair and thrust him backwards into Sydney's bed and he began to scream again.

Sydney opened her big brown eyes.

"IT'S A ZOMBIE!" Marshall exclaimed. "She's gonna suck our brains out!"

Sydney looked around the room. When her gaze located Kat and Marshall she smiled.

"Syd?" Marshall asked. "It's Sydney the ZOMBIE!"

Kat rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile at his clueless ness.

"ZOMBIE! RUN! HEAD FOR THE HILLS! SHE'S GONNA KILL US ALL!"

"Marshall!" Kat exclaimed. "She's [I]not[/I] a zombie. She never really was dead."

"Oooh…well then: Sydney's alive! I'm gonna go share the good news!"

He went out of the room and began screaming it to the world. Through the door, they could hear Michael and Jack telling him, "that's not funny" and "leave us alone", but Marshall kept insisting. So, in order for silence to grieve, they decided to go back into the room.

"Do you need anything?" Kat asked with a smile.

She didn't talk, but tapped out 'water' in Morse code on her arm. Kat went to get her some water as Jack and Michael walked in, Marshall wheeling in behind. Sydney smiled at the three of them.

Marshall smiled up at Jack and Michael with a 'I told you so look'. Michael, who was so overcome with happiness, gave Jack a gigantic hug. Then, surprising everyone, Jack halfway returned it. That was when Kat came back.

"Here, Syd," she cheerfully said as she handed Sydney the water.

She tapped out 'thank you' and took the cup. After the water was gone, the questions began.

"Sydney, what happened?" Jack inquired. "Did you recognize the person who took off the oxygen mask?"

Hoarsely, Sydney replied, "I was trying to sleep. She-she came in. I don't know why she did it, but she cut off my oxygen. I couldn't…couldn't breathe."

Sydney began to cry, which cause a series of coughs. Kat sat next to her, comforting her with a hug. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Sydney continued to talk.

"After that, things were off and on. I heard doctors telling me to stay with them," she whispered. "The-then a few seconds later, I didn't see, or feel anything…up until a few minutes ago. I felt a needle or something in my arm. Then I heard Marshall. After that, I was able to wake up."

"Able to…like someone was forcing you to fake your death," Will stated, now coming into the room with a slight wave.

Sydney nodded.

"Who administer the shot? What was in it?" Jack questioned, more to himself then to anyone else.

Kat cleared her throat and they all directed their attention to on her. "I did it. It was the antidote that Vaughn--"

"Michael's fine," he stated.

"That [I]Michael[/I] and I retrieve from France. I had intel indicating that Sydney's death was faked and that giving her the antidote would bring her "to life". Sark knew that the antidote would wake her up, so he wanted to fake her death so he could use her for whatever he needs her for. My guess is something Rambaldi."

"Where did you get this intel?" Jack suspiciously inquired.

Kat handed him the note. Reading what it said caused him to fall silent. After a few awkward moments, he spoke.

"I know that handwriting," he solemnly said. "That is your mother's handwriting. [I]_She[/I] _was the one who gave you the intel?"

"Yes."

"And you took the risk of using it? You could have [I] killed[/I] Sydney!" Jack accused.

"We already thought she was dead! I couldn't have killed her if she was already dead!"

"BUT SHE WASN'T DEAD!"

"YOU ONLY KNOW THAT BECAUSE OF THAT INTEL!"

"What are you saying? That you TRUST her now?"

"No!"

"THAT'S WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE TO ME!"

"YOU AREN'T ALWAYS RIGHT YOU KNOW!"

"[B] ANYTHING [B] THAT INVOLVES IRINA DERVEKO…I WILL ALWAYS BE RIGHT! I LIVED WITH THAT WOMAN FOR A DECADE!"

"AND I LIVED WITH HER LONGER!"

Both stopped to catch their breath as tears of anger began to well up in Kat's eyes. The others in the room remained silent, wanting to get away from the yelling but not wanting to upset either any further.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU COULD HAVE JUST DONE TO SYDNEY? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA?"

"NO, SO WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME SO WE CAN ALL GET SOME PEACE AND QUIET?!"

"BY CHOOSING TO USE THAT INTEL, YOU HAVE LED PEOPLE TO BELIEVE THAT YOU WOULDN'T HAVE CARED IF SYDNEY DIED!"

"WHAT PEOPLE? THAT IS NOT TRUE! IF I HAD WANTED HER DEAD I WOULDN'T HAVE GONE AFTER THAT ANTIDOTE FOR HER! I WOULD HAVE GONE BACK TO LIVE WITH MOM! [I]BUT[/I] INSTEAD, I CAME BACK. DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY?"

Jack opened his mouth to make some retort, but Kat stopped him short.

"NO! You do not say another word. I came back because now I have a family. People I can turn to. People who care—or at least I thought they did. But now I see what a fantasy that was. Somebody loving me? Me? Like that could ever happen, right? Yeah, well, since you don't want me, I'll just leave you alone. You can go back to have just one daughter, and your life we be back to as normal as it was before I came into the picture. Tell the CIA I resign. They won't need to put me in any special protection. I can disappear on my own."

And with these words, she left the hospital, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Irina sat with headphones on listening to Kat and Jack's argument. All she heard now was Kat's sniffling and footsteps. She knew Kat was crying but what Kat didn't know was that so was she.

"That IDIOT!" She exclaimed, ripping the headphones off, throwing them to the ground, and stomping on them. "How could he do that to her? She was just trying to help! I was trying to help! Uggghhh!"

She picked up a pillow off her couch and screamed into it, trying to relieve her anger. Then she sat down and thought of how she should help next.

All eyes remained on Jack, making him feel very uneasy.

"What?"

All the stares were changed to ones that gave the message of 'you know what'. That didn't seem to effect him.

"Dad," Sydney hoarsely spoke, "you just yelled at her for saving my life."

"What if there's a tracing device or poison in there? What if she's really hurting you instead of helping?"

Michael spoke up, "So because she [I]_might[/I] _have made a mistake, which I disagree with, you're just going to let her walk out of your life forever?"

Kat sat in her fire red Viper, taking deep breaths to keep from hyperventilating. Knowing she needed something to make her feel better, she headed over to Stake 'N' Shake for her comfort food: vanilla milkshakes.

Wiping tears from her eyes, Kat turned up the volume and bass boost, so her music was blaring and shaking her whole body.

[I]Now I will tell you what I've done for you50,000 tears I cryScreaming,Deceiving,And bleeding for youAnd you still won't hear me....Going Under....Don't want your hand this timeI'll save myselfMaybe I'll wake up for once (wake up for once)Not tormented daily defeated by youJust when I thought I'd reach the bottom (Chorus)I dive againI'm going under (going under)Drowning with you (drowning with you)I'm falling forever (falling forever)I've got to break throughgoing under Blurring and stirring the truth that comes out(I don't know what's real and what's not)Always confusing the thoughts is my headSo I can't trust myself anymore I dive againI'm going under (going under)Drowning with you (drowning with you)I'm falling forever (falling forever)I've got to break through,I'm, so go on and screamScream at me, so far awayI won't be broken againI've got to breatheI can't keep going under I dive againI'm going under (going under)Drowning with you (drowning with you)I'm falling forever (falling forever)I've got to break through,I'm, going under (going under)Going under (drowning with you)I'm going under[/I] 

Kat turned off her car and walked into the restaurant. She walked up to the counter where a man there greeted her with a friendly smile that she couldn't return.

"I need a vanilla milkshake. The largest size available. Oh, with extra whipped cream and add three cherries," Kat rambled of her favorite comfort food to the man.

"That's gonna…cost a little more…" he told her.

"I know. I don't care, I need it."

"Alright, your total comes to $3.95."

Kat reached into her pocket and pulled out the money she needed. He placed the order, and seeing there were no other customers, he went around and sat next to her on a stool.

"Bad day?" he guessed.

"How'd you know?" She inquired back.

"My brother works at another one of these. He says there's a pretty woman, usually in a business suit that comes in every once in awhile and orders a huge vanilla shake with extra whipped cream and cherries when she has bad days. I'm guessing it was you."

"I wouldn't doubt it. I don't think many people order that."

"Not many, no. So…you wanna spill it?"

"Well, my dad and I got into a fight because I tried to protect my sister with my mother's help. He doesn't like my mother…doesn't trust her because she ran away almost nine months before I was born. It broke his heart. He didn't even know about me until I showed up at the place he works a few weeks ago. I'm sorry…you don't want to hear about my pathetic family issues."

"No, it's alright. What you bought might rise my paycheck a bit this month. Plus it's nice to have someone to talk to. I'll go get your shake."

So he went back to get her milkshake. Kat looked outside and saw Will just staring at her. They made eye contact and he motioned for her to come outside. Wanting to get her milkshake first, she motioned for him to wait for a minute. After thanking the man for listening and getting her milkshake, she walked out the door.

The man smiled slyly and pushed a button on his watch to take a picture of Kat listening to Will. Then he took another picture, this one of Will and Kat hugging. He kept his smile as he called someone on his cell phone, and put the money Kat had just given him into his pocket.

"Get Mr. Sark on the phone. Tell him I have some information for him. His plan won't work, but I have a way that we can abduct Sydney Bristow [I]and[/I] her sister."

"That is [I]none[/I] of your business," Jack replied to Michael's last remark.

Of course he wanted Kat to stay. He just couldn't find enough courage to ask her for forgiveness. Looking at Sydney, he knew he would have to find Kat and apologize or he would never forgive himself.

"I'll be back," he finally said with a small sigh and a few uttered phrases under his breath.

Irina was once again listening to the audio bug that had been placed on Kat. She had regained her composer and had lessened her anger at Jack, so she was ready to hear what had been said in the past few minutes.

She heard Kat ordering her vanilla milk shake and then her conversation with the "Steak and Shake" man. The bug had been made to look like a penny, which concerned Irina. Desperately hoping that Kat hadn't given the man the "penny", she listened on.

"Oh, no…" she whispered as she heard Sark's voice state his next plan.

Jack stood outside the hospital. He had to decide whether to keep his pride or his daughter. It should have been an easy choice, but for Jack Bristow, it was a hard decision. In his mind he had already made a decision, but living it out was much harder. He had selfishly kept his pride all his life. Did he really want to give it up? Was there a way to keep them both? He paced awhile and finally decided there was only one he could have.

He quickly pulled out his cell phone, prepared to give up his pride.

Kat sighed. She was headed in the opposite direction of Will, and as far away from L.A. as she could go. The words she had spoken to Will only moments before would not stop repeating in her head: [I]I have nothing to stay for[/I].

Why should she stay? Her father saw her as her mother, not many agents at the CIA trusted her, and Marshall was just starting to know her again. There was nothing to stay for, however, she honestly did not want to leave.

She concentrated on the new song that was playing on the radio, and as she focused on it, she wanted to stay more.

[I]Can you try to hide what's in your heart, what's on your mind?

Can you carry on, like nothing's wrong?

Go on and on?

Are you sure about that?

You've been pushed you've been shoved,

You've been left and unloved,

Oh, why do you stay?

So many tears that you cry every night

But ya know that life doesn't have to be this way

But you've got hurts deep inside you feel

It's only right someone should pay

You can't forget all the scars he left on your heart all the promises he made

You've got to let it out, girl

Gotta let it go

Got to give it up, got to give it up

If you really want to know

The truth about life, girl,

The secret of love is living inside you

It's dying to break through the walls around your heart.

Can you try to hide what's in your heart, what's on your mind?

Can you carry on, like nothing's wrong?

Go on and on?

Are you sure about that?….[/I]

Making a sharp turn, she managed to grab her cell phone, just as it began to ring. She was almost positive of who it was.

"Kat don't hang up."

A smile came to her lips as a plan formed in her head. She was going to have some fun.

"Why not? I'm just like Mom, aren't I?" she retorted. "Mom would not take this from you.'

"No, she wouldn't."

Kat had to hold back the laughter that was set on escaping from her mouth. It was almost out, but Kat forced it to go back in.

"But you--Kat, you are not your mother. You do resemble her, but you are not her."

"Mmmm-hhhmm. So, [b]now[/b] you go off and change your mind after I'm on a plane to France? Too bad, Dad. I'm gone."

"Kat, please, just give me time to ex--"

"No. It's too late for you and your petty excuses. You had your chance, and now, Sark will have his."

"Katarina Olana you will not go to help Sark! You come back to the hospital."

"No. Sark's too…" Kat had to stop to think about the sickening thing she was about to say. For the sake of her prank, she continued. "Incredibly hot. ISYASR, Dad."

With that, she hung up, and pulled into the back of the parking lot of the hospital. She snuck through the back door and headed for Marshall's room.

Jack ran all the way back to Sydney's room. Michael was watching Sydney sleep, and Marshall was gone.

"She's asleep, and the doctors forced Marshall to go rest in his room," Michael explained.

Jack nodded. Then he explained rather angrily about the conversation he had just had with Kat on the phone.

The two men wore opposite expressions at that point. Jack sat with a distraught look, while Michael sat laughing. He was laughing so hard that he was shaking and tears were welling up in his eyes.

"What could possibly be so funny?!" he whispered fiercely.

Catching his breath, Michael managed to get out, "She got you bad."

Seeing Jack's quizzical face, he continued. "Okay, think about it. One, nobody would fall in love with Sark…especially not Kat. Secondly, what does ISYASR mean? ISYASR…could it possibly mean, I'll see you at Sydney's room?"

He laughed again as Jack's cell phone rang.

"Bristow," he answered not finding the prank Kat had played on him funny.

"GOTCHA!" Kat's cheerful voice exclaimed, making Michael laugh harder.

Jack frowned and hung up the phone. "That was not funny," he lamely attempted to stop Michael from laughing.

"Yeah, it was. You gotta love Kat."

"Yes. Yes, I do."

Kat slowly stepped a toe into Marshall's room. She couldn't believe what she was about to do. This was not part of her plan, but Marshall had to know. So, after taking a deep breath, she walked into his view.

"Kat! You're back!" he exclaimed genuinely happy that she was there.

"Marshall…" she began slowly.

"What is it? Is something wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine…except--except for one thing."

"What's the thing?"

"Marshall, marry me."

"Isn't that supposed to be a question?"

"No. Guys…they ask questions. Women…they demand. You had your opportunity, and I need a reason to stay here. You be my reason, Marshall."

Marshall nodded. "Well, there's your ring," he said as he pointed to a little purple velvet box on a counter. "I was going to ask you…you know….[I]the[/I] question after I got out of the hospital….but I guess since you beat me to the punch, then….I guess I will marry you."

"You [I]guess[/I]?"

He nodded again.

"Well then, I [I]guess[/I] I'll take that ring."

"Don't I get a ring?" Marshall pouted. "I know most guys don't get engagement rings, but Corey on [I]Boy Meets World[/I] got one, and…well, I always thought it would be cool to have one."

Kat laughed and threw him a small box. Inside was a ring made out of a twist-tie.

"I remembered," she told him.

He smiled as he put it on.

"I'm going to show Syd and Dad," she said as she looked at the sparkly three-diamond ring. "I'll buy you a real ring later."

"Okay, and no. I like this ring, thank you."

"Alright," she smiled. "I'll be right back."

"Kat?"

"Yeah."

"Will you bring me my teddy bear? I left it in Sydney's room."

"Sure."

With those words, happiness entered the hospital, chasing the emptiness, pain, sorrow, and fear away.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: I did not write the welcome message, the wedding vows, or the songs. If you think I did, than guess what? I didn't. The wedding junk that I'm too stupid to make up on my own belongs to some guy named Jim Henry who wrote some book called [u]The Two Shall Become One: A Wedding Manual[/u]. Furthermore, I do not own Stacie Orrico or Steak 'n' Shake. Got it? Good. And, in case you wondering, this is the LAST chapter of TRS. Thanks so much for reading and being patient for me to get this up. I love you guys, you rock! :)

[b]Chapter 17[/b]

Today was the day. Almost a year and a half after the takedown of SD-6 they were ready.

Everything was in place. The chairs set up, the ceremony rehearsed (not to mention all of the extra kissing practices), the dresses and the tuxes had been bought, and the rings were on the soft, velvet pillows waiting to go down the isle. Everything to make the "Double Bristow Wedding", as the two couples called it, perfect was there; waiting for the guests to arrive.

It wasn't to be a huge wedding, but not tiny either. All of Los Angeles' CIA agents were invited, Marshall's parents, Michael's mother, Jack, some of Sydney's friends from college, and some of the couples' accumulated

Kat stood in front of her full-length mirror. She was nervous, and kept glancing at the slit towards the bottom of her creamy white dress. Finally, after a long sigh she reached to the side, pulled out a gun, and threw it across the room.

"That is just [I]not[/I] comfortable. Nothing bad is going to happen. Everything will be fine."

She sighed as she flung herself across a lounging chair. What should be one of the happiest days of her life had somehow turned into a constant wondering—mainly wondering if someone was going to try to ruin her wedding day. As a precaution she and Sydney each wore dresses with slits in them…just in case.

The CIA had been monitoring for even the slightest sign of a threat, and so far had found none. Overall, everyone appeared to be happy and not stressing over it…but there was some concern.

As her eyes wandered around the room, she saw a note slip under the door. After she opened it, Kat immediately felt sick. In varying sized cutout letters, it said one word: WATCH. She, almost without thought, ran out into the hallway. There, Kat saw only one other person.

Michael, Marshall, Will, Dixon, and Jack were all in a room on the opposite end of the building, far away from the brides-to-be.

"The CIA still has no word of a threat, right?" Michael questioned as he drank down a small glass of Juicy Juice.

"They haven't contacted me yet saying so," Jack replied, gulping down his own. "I would call them again, but they hung up on me the twenty-eighth time."

Marshall sat in a chair twisting his twist-tie ring. Next to him sat Will and Dixon, who both having genuine smiles on their faces.

Eric was late—which honestly didn't surprise anyone. There was only about forty-five minutes until the ceremony would begin. All of them were now watching their watches.

"Three…" Will counted down. "Two…One…"

Eric burst into the room.

"Hey, guys! Sorry I'm so—"

"Fashionably late," they mockingly finished for him.

"Hey! I bought some goodies so you better stop," Eric stated.

"Stop? Stop what?" Marshall innocently replied.

"I can see that [I]some people[/I] don't want any more Juicy Juice."

"Okay! Okay, I'll stop. What kinds do you have?"

"Um…' Eric began as he looked into the bag. "I've got cherry…fruit punch…berry…and this green junk."

"I'll take the cherry."

Eric handed Marshall the bottle and he began to drink it out of the bottle. Everyone watched in amazement as Marshall finished half of the jug of Juicy Juice.

"Someone take the bottle away from him before he gets hyperunk," Will stated.

"Hyperunk?" Dixon inquired.

"Yeah. It's when you have too much of a good thing. In this case, Juicy juice. It makes you so hyper you act somewhat drunk. Of course the person is never [I]really[/I] drunk, there is no alcohol in what they had. They just act like it. Thus the term hyperunk."

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Eric proclaimed.

"Is it? Well, evidently you have never heard of that girl from Indiana. Risti Unicorn…I think that's what her name was. She had one [I]just one[/I] little gulp of Juicy Juice and [I]BANG![/I] she was hyper for hours."

"Oh, please! That is a bunch of bologna!" Eric exclaimed with a roll of his eyes.

"That reminds me…" Marshall said. "…of a song! 'My bologna has a first name. It's O-S-C-A-R. My bologna has a 2nd name; It's M-A-Y-E-R! I love to eat it every day and if you ask me I will s--a--y: Oscar Mayer has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A!' Let's sing it again!"

"Oh no…" Dixon shook his head, hoping that Marshall wouldn't repeat the song.

"Told ya," Will nodded as he popped Reese's pieces into his mouth. "Hyperunk."

Marshall began to bounce off of the walls singing songs such as "I know a song that get on everybody's nerves", "Aggravation", "The song that never ends". After finally getting tired of it, Jack took the Juicy Juice from him. Michael helped him. They eventually calmed him down…even though it took a little bit of a tranq. dart to do so.

Sydney stood in the hallway, looking across it to find only Kat. She saw that Kat had something in her hand. It resembled what she herself was holding in hers. The note Sydney was holding had left her wondering. She wanted to know who had left her the note, but found only Kat in the hallway.

"Kat, come here," she whispered to her.

Kat quickly ran over to her sister, still holding the note.

"Did you give me this?" they asked each other at the same time. "I guess not. What does yours say?"

"Mine says 'WATCH'," Kat told Sydney.

Sydney looked around avoiding eye contact with Kat.

"What does your say?" Kat slowly inquired.

"Some-someone is trying to warn us about…about something. Mine says 'OUT'."

"Watch out? Watch out for what?"

"Are you sure that was a good idea?" Will asked Jack and Michael.

Marshall was in a near-by closet, still under the effects of the tranq dart. They could all hear him snoring.

"Of course it was a good idea," Jack replied.

"What if he's not back to normal before the wedding?" Eric asked.

"They didn't give him [I]_all[/I]_ of it. He'll only be asleep for a few more minutes…at the most a half hour," Dixon stated.

Jack's cell phone rang. His expression was unreadable.

"Who gave this intel?" he demanded after a silence fell over the room. "Someone called and said he was coming? Okay, remain on the look out."

He pushed the end button.

"We have some intel. Someone called the CIA and told them that Sark is on his way here."

"We don't know who sent the intel?" Dixon asked.

"No, they have no idea. They couldn't trace the call. We should be prepared no matter if it was just a joke. Hide a gun in your tuxes. Except for you, Will. I don't think you can handle another gun."

"Hey!" Will objected. Then, after a moment of silence and staring, he agreed.

"Should we tell Kat and Syd?" Michael asked.

"Not without confirmation. They have enough to worry about," Jack stated.

It was settled. No one was allowed to breathe a word of this intel to Kat or Sydney without the intel being confirmed. They all promised that they wouldn't tell. That is, everyone except for Marshall, who was still dreaming sweet dreams in the closet.

Kat and Sydney snuck down the hallway. Their hair was still in place, and their dresses were still as clean and crisp as before they got in spy mode. They were going to find Jack. He'd know what to do.

As they silently lurked through the halls with guns at their sides, the silence was interrupted. Kat started laughing. It was not a giggle either. It was an unstoppable laughter. She laughed so hard that she shrank to the floor and curled up into a ball with two aching ribs and tears in her eyes. The laughter took over her whole body so badly that she had to remind herself to breathe.

Sydney stood staring at her younger sister and was completely astonished. How could she laugh at a time like this? Someone was threatening them on their [I] wedding day [/I] and she was laughing!

After what seemed like an eternity, she stopped. The hallway once again resumed it's silent state.

"What was so funny?" Sydney inquired not quite understanding how it could be the slightest bit funny.

"Do you remember Christmas?" she questioned while she wiped the stray tears away.

"Of course I remember Christmas. Who wouldn't?"

"No…I mean do you remember what we did to our fiancés on Christmas?"

"Ohhh…now I remember."

FLASHBACK

[I] "Aw, aren't they cute?!" Kat exclaimed as she looked at her fiancé and her soon to be brother-in-law.

Sydney laughed as she pulled out her camera. It's not every day that you see two CIA agents dressed in pink and white striped aprons baking Christmas cookies. Therefore, you can imagine what an opportunity this was.

"Okay, My Favorite Chefs, smile!" Sydney sweetly exclaimed.

The two men stood together, smiling sweetly as Sydney took the picture. Then the chefs went back to their cookies.

"Wait 'till the CIA sees this!" Kat whispered a little too loud and excitedly to Sydney.

"WHAT??!!!" the chefs yelled in unison.

The chase began. Whisks, mixing spoons, and measuring cups were the angry chefs' weapons. Marshall chased Kat around the inside of the house and into the kitchen. Kat grabbed two cookies, putting the one with icing into her mouth, and throwing the other at Marshall. It poked him in the eye and he backed off for a minute, giving her enough time to get away.

Michael chased Sydney around in circles. He grabbed her in his arms and began to pick her up. SMACK! A cookie hit the back of his head. He instantly let go of Sydney and whipped his head towards Kat.

Sydney opened the door, her camera still in her hand. She stepped out, and seconds later Kat joined her. Marshall and Michael appeared in the doorway, and tried to grab them. Sydney instantly turned the flash on and took a picture, causing the chefs to step back and their fiancés to disappear.

The men decided to wait for them to come back, because they left their purses (and not to mention their cookies!) behind. They waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. After a few hours, they fell asleep.

Sydney and Kat anticipated they would be waiting for them to come back. So, they never left. Instead, they waited near-by for them to fall asleep or get bored. After they thought that they had waited long enough, they picked the locks on Marshall's door, snuck in without waking them up, picked up their belongings, and then left. However, they made sure to leave them with a parting gift.

A few days later, an e-mail spread like wildfire throughout the CIA. The e-mail read:

[b] Dear Friend,

It has occurred to us that you may not know the agents here at the CIA. In order for everyone to get to know each other better, we have decided to e-mail pictures of some our agents at their finest.

The first two agents we would like for you to get to know, are Agent Michael Vaughn and Marshall Flinkman. You may [u]think[/u] you know them, but you probably don't know them as well as you think. For instance, did you know that they were cookie chefs and models in their spare time? I didn't think so.

Forward this e-mail to all the agents you know. Enjoy the pictures! Merry Christmas!

Sincerely,

Sydney and Katarina Bristow[/b]

The e-mail spread quickly. Some people, who found pictures of two agents in chef attire and wearing pink eye shadow, pink lipstick and sun hats while they were sleeping interesting, sent the e-mail to Michael and Marshall. Attached to some of the e-mails were comments such as, "I want some cookies" and "Pink looks good on you". This did not fly over well with Michael and Marshall, so, because of this joke, the Bristow girls received an email.

It read:

[b]We don't care if it's on your wedding day, but we will get you back. Watch out.

Signed,

The Still Angry Chefs [/b][/I]

FLASHBACK END

"You think that they sent us these notes?" Sydney asked.

"Yeah, I do. 'We don't care if it's on you wedding day, but we will get you two back. Watch out' does somewhat suggest that they did," Kat replied.

"You're right. Let's go finish getting ready."

"Wait! Let's give them their notes back."

So they quietly went down the hall, slipped the two notes under the grooms' door, and then ran back to their rooms.

Irina sighed. She had watched to make sure that Kat and Sydney were going to be prepared for what was to come, but they did not get it. How could she make them understand?

She came to the conclusion that no matter how dangerous it would be, she had to attend the wedding. What she needed was a disguise. Fortunately, she had a contact in L.A. who could get her what she needed.

Her contact was notified, and told her where to pick up the disguise. She wasn't going to let anyone mess with her daughter s on their wedding day. No one would ever mess with them if she could help it.

It was time. This was the moment. Everyone was waiting to see the brides. The flower girl came down the isle. She daintily dropped the flowers one at a time onto the floor. The ring barer came next, trying to keep a large distance between him and the flower girl.

Next came Francie, escorted by Will. Francie was the maid of honor for both Kat and Sydney. She was wearing a silky blue dress; her hair was up in a curly bun. In the little time that Kat and Francie had known each other, the two had become very close.

The next part of the bridal party was Kat's friend from the CIA, Reyne (who made sure everyone knew that it was pronounced 'rain') and Eric.

They were followed by Sharraya (one of Sydney's friends from the CIA) and Dixon.

After all of the bridal party was in their places, the Wedding March began to play.

Michael and Marshall stood at the altar waiting to catch a glimpse of their brides. They were a little bit anxious after finding the 'watch out' notes and the unconfirmed intel, but any thought about a threat was washed away when at last they saw their brides.

By looking at Jack Bristow you could tell that he had never been happier in all his life. His daughters looked radiant in their white dresses; Sydney was wearing a remake of Irina's dress and Kat was wearing a [I] Fairytale [/I] original. As they walked down the isle, Jack whispered "I love you" to each of them, then they responded with "I love you too". By now, they were at the end of the isle. Jack went to his place, and the pastor began to speak.

Marshall's mother and father are both Christians. For Easter, they had invited Jack, Kat, Sydney, Michael and Marshall to a pageant that was being held at their church. After seeing the pageant and hearing about everything that Jesus Christ had done for them, Kat, Marshall, Michael, and Sydney trusted Christ as their personal Savior and placed their faith in Him. Jack, although it was not that night that he believed, also became a Christian. The church that they all now attended, was where the ceremony was being held.

"Dear friends and family, this special moment has finally arrived. It is one about which these couples have dreamed, shared their thoughts, and planned. Much love and joy has been theirs as they have anticipated this day. This once-in-a-lifetime experience is to be mutually shared by these two couples as sisters, as a new extended family, and as friends who love each other enough to join together before God in these sacred moments. We stand before our Heavenly Father to ask Him to bless us with His affirming presence, to confirm His plans for these lives, and to add His divine favor to their unions," the pastor began the ceremony.

The feelings in the room at that point were similar. Respect, pride, love-- a lot of love, and happiness being the main occupants of the room, almost every face had a smile on it.

Sydney stood smiling at Michael. She truly loved him more than anyone else. Her mind drifted to memories the two of them shared that she could remember as if the moments had passed only a moment before. As the pastor continued to speak to the people, she thought once again of the night she got engaged.

FLASHBACK

[I]Sydney and Michael had just stepped out of the beautiful restaurant they just eaten in. It was a beautiful night. The air was warm with an occasional soft, cool, breeze.

They had gone out to dinner several times before, but Sydney felt something was going on. Since her "accident" a few weeks before, the CIA had realized that the machines monitoring Sydney that would tell the doctors of a problem were shut-down before Alice moved in. It was because of this, that at least one agent was monitoring her at all times. Michael was ordered by Jack to wear a com link at all times. Tonight, Sydney noticed their was none.

Her suspicions rose when she didn't see Michael's car. In it's place there was a magnificent carriage. Inside the carriage, there were red and white roses. The horse's mane even held a few roses.

"Michael…what's going on?" she whispered.

"You'll see," was his only reply as he helped her into the carriage.

The ride was pleasant. Sydney laid her head on Michael's shoulder, for a moment not caring if her life was in immediate danger. Faintly, in the distance, she saw a carousal. Sydney sat straight up. This was the arranged spot to meet if there was ever a threat to her life. She wasn't supposed to know that this was the spot, she had been "sleeping" when her father and Michael had spoken about the arranged spot.

"What's wrong?" Michael immediately inquired.

"Please just tell me-- is there something going on that I should know about?" she whispered.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"You aren't wearing your link. I haven't been out of my house without someone watching me, and we haven't been out alone either. No one is following us. Why? What's going on?"

The carriage stopped. Michael was relieved. He wouldn't have to answer her--yet.

"Michael-- just tell me. Are we in any danger?"

"Nope. No danger."

Sydney stared at him. She could tell when he was lying to her. He'd get this look in his eyes, or wouldn't let her make eye contact. He wasn't lying. For the moment she was satisfied. Then she grew suspicious. "Then what are we doing here?"

Michael didn't answer. Instead, he pulled her out of the carriage. He told the driver to circle around the block a few times. After the driver began to pull away, Michael pulled Sydney into a kiss.

"Everything's fine," he whispered after they parted. Then pointing to the carousal he asked. "Wanna ride?"

"I'd love to, but we don't have the key."

"We don't," Michael stated putting his hands in his pockets. He had a mischievous smile on his face to match his smile. Sydney's eyes dared him to continue. "But I do."

"How did you--"

"No questions, or no ride."

"Fine," Sydney playfully pouted.

The two climbed over the railings (for fun, they had the key to unlock it) with out difficulty. The truth was that breaking onto a carousal was her first mission in a while. She loved this mission the most, mainly because it didn't involve Alice, Sark, or Sloane. Since the "accident" they had all gone MIA, and all the CIA's time was devoted to catching them.

Most difficult about her recovery, was that no one would allow her to do anything. It only took her a few weeks to feel back to normal, however the CIA, with strong demands from her father, excluded her from every operation, debrief, and even from checking her work e-mail. The only things she knew were the things she could get out of Kat. It didn't take much for Kat to say something, because the bonds of a sister are hard to break, no matter what protocol says.

Michael took the "accident" harder than everyone, including Sydney, did. As soon as Sydney told Jack what she remembered, and Michael found out that Alice was the one who tried to kill her, he felt that is was all his fault. Blaming it on himself, he insisted to be a part of every mission, no matter what it was, how small, or how dangerous it was.

Sydney picked out a metallic purple horse with a shiny silver mane and metallic pink flowers embedded into its hair. Michael chose the "noble steed" as he called it, next to her. After placing the key in, they rode around several times; talking and enjoying each other's company.

Thunder rumbled, and a lightning bolt lit the evening sky. Michael jumped off his "noble steed", told Sydney to stay on her horse, and went to turn the carousel off.

Sydney stayed on the horse as it came to a stop. Michael ran back to her, with a never before seen expression on his face. He had something square in his hand, but Sydney couldn't tell what it was.

"Sydney," Michael began. "I love you. I love you a lot."

"I know. You tell me every time we're together. I love you, too."

"I wouldn't be able to live without you. That's how much I love you, Syd. Earlier, you asked me if something was going on that I should know about. Well, there is something you should know. It just wasn't the right time to tell you. Now it is."

No words would proceed out of her mouth. So, he continued.

"Syd, we always say 'I love you' to each other, but I want to tell the world that I love you. I want everyone to know," with these words he got down on his knee, and held out a velvet, black box. He opened it to reveal a beautiful ring.

"Sydney Anne Bristow, you know how much I love you. If you love me in the same way, say yes to my question. Sydney, will you marry me? Will you pay me the honor of being my wife?"

He saw tears shimmering on her cheeks. Not bothering to wipe the tears from her eyes, she jumped off the horse and into his arms. She immediately gave him a long, breath-taking kiss. After they pulled away, they spoke.

"Michael Vaughn, the person who would tell you that they wouldn't marry you after what you just said, was never worthy of your love. I will marry you," she with no thought at all.

Michael slipped the ring onto her finger. It was then that the sky opened up and cried. Sydney and Michael ran out into the rain. Michael picked Sydney up, twirled her around, and kissed her upon her feet's return to the wet pavement.

By the time the carriage came back, both were soaked. However, neither one of them cared, for they were not only soaked with water, they were also soaked with love.[/I]

FLASHBACK END

Irina had given up on the disguise that her contact had supplied. She instead put on a simple dress, and hid in the shadows.

Tears formed in her eyes as she recognized the dress Sydney wore. The dress was a modern style of hers. She subconsciously heard the pastor talking about the two couples' love, and Michael and Sydney saying their vows, as she focused on where Sark and his goons would try to come in at. It would be harder to watch for them at the reception, while at the same time trying to stay away from Jack. Her main concern was that the CIA believed the intel she had phoned in.

She felt somewhat better knowing that the majority of the people at the wedding worked for the CIA, or had at one point in their life. However, if they weren't aware of a threat and they weren't prepared, it would be hopeless. Sark would win and she couldn't let that happen.

Her thoughts drifted back to the wedding and she focused more on what was going on at the altar.

"Katarina, place the ring on Marshall's finger, and repeat after me," the pastor told Kat.

Kat placed his ring on Marshall's finger and began to repeat after the pastor.

"With this ring I thee wed, and with it I give thee all my faithfulness and devotion. I promise I will love you forever, for my love is of Christ."

The pastor began spoke about their vows, and how important it was to keep them.

"Michael; Marshall," the pastor stated with a smile. "You may kiss your brides."

"You betcha I may!" exclaimed Marshall as he pulled Kat into a kiss.

Everyone laughed at Marshall's comment, and some wiped tears from their eyes.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," the pastor announced after the couples stopped kissing. "I am pleased to present to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Christopher Vaughn and Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Joseph Flinkman."

Music played and Michael and Marshall offered their arms to their wives. Then, they walked down the isle, heading to the reception. The pastor told everyone where to go for the reception. To close the ceremony, he prayed: thanking God for the two couples that he had married just a few moments before.

The reception was held outside in a small garden. The garden (decorated by Kat and Syd) was absolutely exquisite. There were fountains that had already been in place, perfect with the lilac bushes, crimson roses, and the soft green grass.

In case of rain, they had placed several white canopies. Under one would be where the dancing was to take place. Tables for eating were set up under a few other canopies, and there was also a table where beautifully wrapped gifts would soon be placed.

They had arranged for a live performance by Stacie Orrico, who was Kat's favorite singer. She was willing and happy to perform, but she couldn't make it from a previous concert in time. Because of this, Michael and Marshall found a free DJ until she could get there. Kat and Sydney weren't there when they hired him, and questioned who would do their job for free. Soon enough they discovered that they had hired Eric Weiss to be the DJ. They were skeptical, but then they decided to give him a chance.

The guests began to arrive. Most headed for the food first, however some did place gifts on the table before getting in line for the food. All their attention was directed to the DJ booth as Eric walked out in a suit, dark sunglasses, and a rather interesting hat. All eyes on him, he began to speak.

"Alright, everyone! If I could have your attention [I]please[/I]. I'd like to introduce you to some very good friends of mine," he said into his DJ mike. "Please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn!"

The guests applauded as the newly-weds walked onto the dance floor. Eric cranked up the volume. Then he played Sydney and Michael's wedding song.

[I]No mountains too high for you to climbAll you have to do, is have some climbing faithNo river is too wide for you to make it acrossAll you have to do, is believe when you pray And then you will see the morning will come,and everyday will be bright as the sunHold on to your fears, cast them on meI just want you to see I'll be your cloud up in the skyI'll be your shoulder when you cryI hear your voices when you call meI am your Angel,And when all hope is gone I'm hereNo matter how far you are, I'm nearIt makes no difference who you areI am your Angel, I am your Angel I saw your tear drops and I heard you cryAll you need is time, seek me and you shall findYou have everything and your still lonelyIt don't have to be this wayLet me show you a better day Then you will see, the morning will comeAnd all of your days will be bright as the sunSo all of your fears just cast them on meHow can I make you see I'll be your cloud up in the skyI'll be your shoulder when you cryI hear your voices when you call meI am your Angel,And when all hope is gone I'm hereNo matter how far you are, I'm nearIt makes no difference who you areI am your Angel, I am your Angel And when it's time to face the stormI'll be right by your sideGrace will keep us safe and warmI know we'll surviveAnd when it seems as if your end is drawing nearDon't you dare give up the fightJust put your trust beyond the skies I'll be your cloud up in the skyI'll be your shoulder when you cryI hear your voices when you call meI am your Angel,And when all hope is gone I'm hereNo matter how far you are, I'm nearIt makes no difference who you are 

I am your Angel, I am your Angel[/I]

"I love you so much," Michael whispered as they danced to their wedding song.

"I love you more," she playfully argued.

"That's not possible."

Sydney stopped trying to make him side with her. She knew that what he had told her could very well be true. So, instead of replying with words, she kissed him, causing several sighs to be heard from the "romantics". She smiled and laid her head on Michael's shoulder. The rest of the song they danced in silence, simply enjoying each other and their love.

Kat and Marshall stood watching Michael and Sydney dance. They were filled with a happiness that is indescribable. It came time for them to go out and dance to their wedding song. Marshall and Kat linked arms and walked out onto the dance floor.

[I]_ Will I always be there for you?__  
When you need someone,  
Will I be that one you need?  
Will I do all my best to, to protect you?  
When the tears get near your eyes  
Will I be the one that's by your side?  
Will I be there when you call me in the middle of the night?  
Will I keep the rain from falling down into your light?  
I promise, I promise  
I promise I will Will I take tender tender care of you?  
Take your darkest night and make it bright for you  
Will I be there to make you strong and to lean on?  
When this world has turned so cold  
Will I be the one that's there to hold? Will I be there when you call me in the middle of the night?  
Will I keep the rain from falling down into your light?  
I promise, I promise  
I promise I will Will I be there when you call me in the middle of the night?  
Will I keep the rain from falling down into your light?  
I promise, I promise  
I promise I will Yeah  
And I love you more every day  
And nothing will take that love away  
When you need someoneI promise I'll be there for you (there for you)  
I promise Will I be there when you call me in the middle of the night?  
Will I keep the rain from falling down into your light?  
I promise, I promise  
I promise I will And I promise (and I promise)  
I promise (oh I promise you)  
I will be there when you call me (when you call me)  
I promise (I promise)  
I promise I will_ [/I]

As the music softly played, they danced, fully concentrated only on each other. Everything seemed like a dream. It was the one thing they had both wished for since Kat had faked her death. All of Kat's attention was on Marshall. That is, until she saw someone out of the corner of her eye.

A million thoughts swarmed through her head. [I]_'What is she doing? How did she find out about the wedding? Why is she here?'[/I]_

Marshall saw the distracted look in her eyes. "What's going on?" he asked her.

"What? Oh, nothing. It's nothing," she replies with a smile. "This is just how I imagined it would be."

"Not me. This is ten times better."

Kat smiled for the uncountable time that day. She loved Marshall more then anyone in the world, and now they were married. She was living in one of the most precious moments and person could have. A perfect moment. Although these are incredibly joyful and fulfilling, these is always and end.

Irina had just watched her daughters and new son-in-laws dance together. She could feel their happiness as well as see it in their eyes. She had just signed each couple's table cloths. They had set them out to have as a keepsake after all the guests had signed it, and after each one had a trimming to make it more formal.

Most of Irina's time had been spent looking for any sign of Sark. She has spotted Jerry, who has been all over the reception grounds. Deciding that she needed to somehow tell one of her daughters, son-in-laws, or Jack, she went in search of them.

As she walked around, she spotted Kat talking with some of her friends from the CIA. Their eyes met. Irina expected her to ignore her, or have her thrown out, but surprisingly she did neither. Kat's smile stayed on her face, and she pointed to where Jack stood.

With a mouthed, 'thank you,' Irina went to talk to Jack, satisfied with a simple smile.

Andy Hunter came running up to Jack.

"Mr. Bristow! Hey! Mr. Bristow!" he exclaimed as he ran up to Jack.

"What's wrong, Andy?" Jack agitatedly questioned.

"There's a lady who wants to see you. A very pretty lady."

"Does she have a name?"

"I think so…I just don't know what it is,"

"Where is she?"

"Over by the rose bushes, next to the punch," he said with a smile as he punched Jack's arm.

"Andy?"

"Yes, Mr. B.?" Andy asked, expecting him to say 'thank you'.

"Don't punch me again."

With that, he walked over to the punch area to see who wanted him and what they wanted.

The D.J. was long gone now, and Stacie Orrico and her band took the small stage they had set all their instruments up on. Sydney and Kat had discussed with her which songs they definitely wanted he to sing. They were going to find Marshall and Michael for another dance when Jerry stopped them.

"Hey, Kat. This is my brother, Tom. Tom, this is Kat and Sydney."

"Tom and Jerry, huh?" Sydney commented, very much amused by their names.

"Yeah, it's pretty upsetting. We always get jokes about the show and stuff," Tom explained.

"Well, maybe a dance will make you feel better," Sydney said, feeling sorry for him.

So Sydney and Tom walked out on the dance floor; Kat and Jerry followed.

"What do you mean?" Jack questioned Irina.

"I've been monitoring Sark. He's coming here to follow through with the plan I told you about," Irina repeated.

"And you say that Jerry is helping him…"

"Yes."

"Irina…"

"Jack, look, I know you have no reason to believe a word I say, but why would I make this up? I don't know when he's coming, Jerry got rid of the bug, but I do know that we have to do something."

Jack had already forgiven Irina, but still didn't know if he could trust her. However, knowing trust t be a tricky thing, he decided to , at least for today, believe her.

"What do I do?" he asked.

"First, we have to find them."

"I know a lot more about you than you think I do," Jerry told Kat.

"What do you mean?" Kat asked.

"I know that Mr. Sark is your brother."

"How do you know who Sark is?"

Jerry laughed and smiled slyly.

"Kat, Kat, Kat. You've been very foolish."

Jerry now had a think Russian accent. Kat began to back away, so Jerry pulled out his gun and pointed it at her stomach.

"You move, and you die."

"Why are you doing this to me?"

He laughed once again. "You ask a lot of questions. Now I will ask you one. Do you value your sister's life?"

Kat fearfully looked over at Sydney and Tom. Tom had a gun pointed at Sydney's stomach. Sydney looked over at her, and their eyes met. She began to blink a message to her.

"If you try to tell anyone about this, we will kill you [I]and Sydney[/I]."

Kat nodded. Jerry seemed satisfied. What he didn't know, was that she was not nodding to him, but to Sydney. She began to silently count to three.

[I]One…

Two…[/I]

"Mike, have you seen Kat?" Marshall asked.

"No. Have you seen Syd?" Michael inquired in return.

"No; maybe Jack's seen them."

They found Jack, who was still talking to Irina.

"Is that who I think it is?" Marshall questioned not sure whether or not to believe his eyes.

"I think so…" Michael managed to say.

As they walked closer, both Jack and Irina looked up. Irina was smiling at them. Not like she was plotting against them, but as though she was happy for them.

"Jack, have you seen Kat?" Marshall immediately asked.

"Or Syd?" Michael added.

As soon as the words were uttered, Irina and Jack's facial expressions changed. They seemed worried…and afraid.

"When was the last time you saw them?" Irina inquired.

"They went to talk to Stacie. She's on stage now, though."

"We have to find Jerry," Jack decided.

"Jerry? The [I]Steak 'n' Shake[/I] guy? Why do we need to find him?" Marshall questioned.

"He's working with Sark," Jack announced.

Marshall got mad as soon as he heard this. If you've never seen or heard of a mad Marshall let me tell you two things. One, you'd be surprised. Two: stay out of his way and on his good side.

They split into pairs to find Jerry who, by this time, could be anywhere on the reception grounds. Jack took Marshall and they went to the right. Irina took Michael and went to the right. Each group was intent on finding Sydney, Kat, and Jerry.

[I]Three…[/I]

In almost perfect unison, Sydney and Kat attacked the men in front of them. Tom and Jerry both fell back from the powerful kick to each man's stomach.

Sydney and Kat began to run away, but Tom and Jerry got back up. Jerry pulled out a gun. He aimed at Kat's left leg.

Shrieks of terror escaped from the crowd as Kat roughly hit the floor. Stacie stopped singing, her band stopped playing, allowing the gunshots echo to be heard by all.

Another gunshot went off. This time it was Tom who fired. He shot Sydney's shoulder. Pain shot up her entire body. She tried her best to brush the pain aside. She could have run away, saved herself, but she didn't. She went straight to Kat to help her up.

Michael and Irina's attention immediately went towards the sound of the gunshot. They ran over, guns drawn to see a sickening sight.

Jack and Marshall stood next to them, they too had their guns out. Both pairs stood staring at the puddles of blood that were right before their eyes. The worse thing about it was that the puddles were from Kat and Sydney, who both had blood all over them and their wedding dresses.

Jerry and Tom had an arm wrapped around the necks of Sydney and Kat. They had guns pointing to Sydney and Kat's heads. Tears, pain, and fear could be seen on both women's faces as they were at the mercy of two men on a mission.

"Let them go," Marshall demanded.

They did not let them go. Instead, they slammed their guns into the heads of their captives, knocking them unconscious.

Michael, Marshall, Irina, and Jack could still see the mascara stained tears on Sydney and Kat's faces and the pain that was still etched there. The four relatives were mad. They wanted to do something…they [I]had[/I] to do something. However, they found that they could not because Jerry and Tom still had their guns pointed to the unconscious women's heads.

"Drop your guns." Tom commanded.

No one moved.

"Drop your guns or we will kill them," Jerry stated matter-of-factly.

Marshall was the first to drop his gun. He would never forgive himself if he was the reason that Kat was hurt even more or worse killed.

Next to drop his gun was Michael. He also didn't want anything to happen to Sydney. He would rather them hurt him.

Irina and Jack still held their guns. Jack had a choice to make. He chose to drop his gun after Jerry and Tom had inched their guns even closer to his daughters' heads. His gun landed in the soft grass near his feet.

Irina was now the only one left with a gun. She was holding onto it tightly, not wanting to let go. She wanted to help free her daughters. Never having been much of a mother to either of them, she wanted to be a good one now. The only way to help them now was to drop her gun. Giving Tom and Jerry the coldest glare she could muster, she threw her gun at them.

"See, that wasn't so hard, now was it?" Jerry tauntingly asked her.

Irina didn't say a word. She kept glaring. Marshall kept praying. Jack kept thinking. Michael kept waiting.

All eyes turned to the sky. The birds that had been chirping happily were now being disturbed. A helicopter was approaching.

The helicopter produced huge gusts of wind as it came even more near to them. The gusts of wind knocked over the tables that had been so carefully placed under the canopies. The guests ran as far away as they could, with the exception of Dixon, Francie, Will, Eric and a few other agents.

As the helicopter landed, two people hopped out of it. One of them was Sark and the other was Alice.

Their arms were linked and they wore sly smiles on their faces as they approached.

"I would say that I am sorry that I have crashed your party, but the truth is," Sark began. "I'm not."

He and Alice laughed, somehow finding his remarks humorous.

Alice broke away from Sark and walked towards Michael. She put her arms around Michael and began to whisper in his ear.

"Don't be upset, Michael," she whispered. "All's fair in love and war. I must admit that I was in love with you. Now, now it's different. We are at war. I've moved on to another.

"Sark is smart. He has taught me several things already. I'm much happier with him.

"Oh, and about your wife. Sydney, I believe it is. You'll get over her in time. She is pretty, but you will live without her. Rambaldi's plans-- they're far better than anything you could possibly have imagined. If you ever see her again, then consider yourself lucky.

"I have to go, Michael. My boss is expecting me to come back with 4 more people than I left with. Goodbye, Michael."

With those words, she kissed him as if she were the one who had married him a few hours before.

Michael pushed her away, causing Alice to whip out her gun. She angrily hit him in the face with it, causing him to begin to falter towards the ground. Irina caught him in her strong arms before he could reach the ground, and sat him in a near-by chair.

Alice and Sark had linked arms again. They told Tom and Jerry to carry Sydney and Kat into the helicopter and handcuff them.

They did as they were told. Kat and Sydney were handcuffed to metal poles inside the helicopter.

"Oh, Irina," Sark called. "It was good seeing you again. However if you get in my way, I will not hesitate to kill you. I thought you deserved fair warning. Stay out of my way."

With these words, Sark and Alice made their way back to the helicopter. They climbed in, one after the other.

Sark reached down to Kat's hand and picked it up, making it appear as if she was waving to Jack. This caused laughter from everyone in the helicopter.

The helicopter's pilot was ready to fly. The helicopter began to slowly lift off the ground. Sark through two small objects out the door of the helicopter. Then, they took off, turning into a speck in the horizon.

Marshall ran to the area in which the objects had fallen. He had to know what Sark had thrown out. Laying in the grass were Sydney and Kat's wedding rings, both stained with blood.

_[I]"I'm Your Angel[/I]"_ by Celine Dion and R. Kelly.

"[I]I Promise[/I]" by Stacie Orrico


End file.
